Want to Know If Your Business Idea Will Work? Don’t Build Anything Yet

Everyone has business ideas.

Many start on them.

But very few finish.

… and even fewer win.

Why?

Because they skipped the most important step: Validation.

They fell in love with the idea.

They poured hours into branding, websites, logos.

They got feedback like:

“That’s such a cool idea!”
“Let me know when it’s live!”
“I’d totally buy that!”

But when launch day comes? Crickets.

Because compliments don’t pay. Commitments do.

Why “Exciting” Ideas Fail

Ideas that feel good in your head often die in the real world.

Just because something makes sense doesn’t mean people will pay for it.

The brain lies. The market doesn’t.

If you’ve ever:

• Spent weeks building a landing page with zero traffic

• Created a product no one asked for

• Posted daily with no buyers

…you’re not alone. You just skipped the test.

5 Brutally Useful Filters for Testing Any Idea

If you’re serious about building something real, put your idea through this:

1. Can you explain the problem you solve in 1 sentence without industry terms?

If it takes a paragraph to explain what you do, people will scroll past.

Clarity wins.

2. Can you find 3 strangers who feel urgent pain right now?

Don’t ask your friends. Ask the market.

If you can’t find 3 people actively searching for a fix, you might be solving a “meh” problem.

3. Can you pre-sell the solution even in its roughest form?

Build a landing page. A form. A conversation.

Ask for money, not likes.

Even a $10 deposit tells you more than 100 compliments ever could.

4. Does your idea make them feel like the hero or just highlight your genius?

People don’t care how clever you are.

They care about what your product makes them become: Fitter. Happier. Wealthier. Safer. More respected.

5. If this takes off, will you still want to run it in 3 years?

Because success means you’ll be stuck with it.

It’s better to kill a misaligned idea early than succeed at the wrong game.

What Real Testing Looks Like

Validation isn’t some fancy startup method.

It’s just honesty with urgency.

Here's how real builders validate:

• DMing 20 target customers asking: “Would this help you?”

• Creating a fake product page with a checkout button to test conversions

• Posting the core idea with a CTA: “Comment if you’d pay for this”

• Running $50 in ads to a form just to see who clicks

No fancy builds. No waiting. Just frictionless reality.

Stop asking:

“Is this idea good?”

Start asking:

“Can I prove people want this with the least amount of effort possible?”

The faster you invalidate bad ideas, the sooner you find the one worth going all in on.

Most people don’t fail from building the wrong thing.

They fail from spending too long figuring out it was the wrong thing.

This Week’s Challenge:

Take one idea you’ve been holding onto.

Don’t build anything.

Just describe it in one sentence.

Then send it to 10 people in your target market and ask:

“Would you pay for something that solves this?”

No pressure. Just signal.

If they say yes - go deeper.

If not - pivot fast.

Until next week, stay sharp.

If you would like to connect on a deeper level, feel free to REPLY to this email and I’ll get in touch with you.

Be unstoppable,

Amos - Founder of The16hourclub