How to Validate a Business Idea Before You Build Anything

I spent three weeks building an ebook that made zero sales.

I wrote 60 pages, formatted it, set up a product page, and sent it into the world. Nothing. Not one sale.

The problem wasn't the writing. The problem was that I had assumed demand without confirming it. I had a hypothesis — "people want help with X" — and I skipped the step of actually testing it.

That mistake cost me three weeks. Here's the process I use now to avoid repeating it.

The Validation Mindset Shift

Most people think of validation as something you do to confirm a good idea. The better framing: validation is how you find out which of your good ideas will actually sell.

You might have five solid ideas. All of them feel right. Validation helps you find the one or two with real demand before you invest significant time.

The question isn't "is this a good idea?" It's "will people pay for this?"

Those are different questions, and the second one requires testing.

Method 1: Find Existing Demand

The fastest way to validate is to look for proof that something similar already sells.

Search for your product idea on:

• Etsy (digital products section)
• Gumroad
• Amazon (ebooks, physical books on the topic)
• Google (what comes up in search results?)
• YouTube (are people creating content about this topic with meaningful views?)
• Any major marketplace in your category

If you find sellers with real sales, real reviews, and real traffic — the demand is proven. You're not pioneering; you're entering a market that exists.

Zero results doesn't always mean no demand, but it's a warning sign worth taking seriously. If nobody is selling anything like this, there might not be a buyer.

Method 2: Search Intent Research

Type your product idea into Google and look at what comes up.

Are people searching for this? What questions are they asking? Are there Reddit threads, forum posts, blog articles answering related questions?

High search volume + real questions = real demand.

Tools that help with this: Google's autocomplete, "People Also Ask" boxes, and free keyword tools like Ubersuggest or Google's Keyword Planner. You don't need paid tools for basic validation.

Method 3: Ask Real People

This one sounds obvious and gets skipped more than it should.

Find 5–10 people who fit your target buyer profile and ask them directly: "Would you pay $X for something that solved [specific problem]?"

Pay attention to enthusiasm, not just answers. "Yeah, I might" is different from "Oh my god, yes — do you have it now?" The second response is validation. The first is polite noise.

Where to find these people:

• Relevant Facebook groups
• Reddit communities in your niche
• LinkedIn connections
• Twitter/X followers
• People who've engaged with your content before

Method 4: Pre-Sell Before You Build

The strongest form of validation is someone paying before the product exists.

Create a product page with a basic description and a discounted "founding member" price. Tell potential buyers the product ships in 2–4 weeks. See if anyone buys.

This works best if you have any kind of audience, email list, or community to promote to. Even a small list of a few hundred people can generate meaningful signals.

If you get zero pre-orders, you have valuable information before you've spent weeks building. If you get 10–30, you have both validation and initial revenue.

Method 5: Build the Minimum Version

If pre-selling feels premature, build the minimum viable version and sell that.

Don't write 80 pages when a 20-page focused guide will test demand just as well. Don't build a 6-module course when a single workshop would prove the concept.

Get something live, price it honestly, and see what happens. A week of real market feedback is worth more than a month of planning.

What Good Validation Looks Like

You've validated well when:

• You've found proof that similar things already sell
• At least a handful of people in your target audience have said they'd buy
• The problem you're solving shows up in real search queries
• You've ideally made at least one pre-sale or early sale

You haven't validated when:

• Your friends said it sounds like a good idea
• You feel confident about it personally
• You've researched the market without asking actual buyers

Friends are kind. Markets are honest.

I run my products through MadeThis — once something is validated, getting it live and selling takes a day, not a week. Speed from validation to launch matters.

If you're ready to actually start, MadeThis is what I use — try it at madethis.com.