I have a new idea but how do I know if my customers will like it?

Isn’t this just the trickiest thing?! You’ve got a new product idea, you think it’s great, but will your customers like it? And, and, and….. will they actually buy it?!

Here are three of the BEST ways you can test your new idea to see if it’s a goodie!

1 Talk about it

Lots of us keep our ideas secret. Just in case someone copies it. Right?! But actually we’re far more likely to have our idea improved by talking about it, than we are to have it pinched! Indeed!

If you talk about your idea with the right people they will not only help you work out whether  you’re on the right track, they will also give you ideas for making it better! (Everything I’ve done has been vastly improved by the people I’ve chatted to about early ideas!)

But who are the right people to talk to? Well, the best people are those who are most likely to buy your product  (If you’re doing the Healthy Income Program – that’s your muse and your Hungry Customer), but you can also run your idea past people who understand your business and your customers. Be careful though about listening to people who don’t really understand your business – they could send you off in totally the wrong direction!

2 Experiment

Most of us want our new product/service to be totally perfect before we announce it to the world. But it’s actually a better idea to start with test sales of an experimental version!

Your ‘experimental’ version is the cheap and quick version of your idea! It’s good enough to sell but is totally NOT perfect!

The idea is that you show your ‘experimental’ product to a small select customer group and if a few people buy it you know you’re onto something good!  

If people don’t buy it, that’s OK! They’ll probably give you some interesting ideas as to how to make your idea better: all the kinda stuff you want to know before you start selling it for real!

Now maybe you’re thinking this idea sounds fine in theory, but horrible in real life. After all, who wants to sell something that’s not fabulous?! I’ve struggled with this too. A LOT! But it turns out trialling an experimental version is not as bad as you think! My first ‘experiment’ was for the Healthy Income Program. I hated sending out something that was less than gorgeous, but no-one seemed to mind and the feedback I got helped me make it much better. So, really – if I can do it,  you can too!

3 Sell before you start

The third way to test your idea is to sell a kind of ‘pretend’ version of your product.

How does this work? Well let’s say I’m thinking of running a Time Management Class*. I could pop some ads up on Facebook and sell the class in advance. If I don’t get enough takers to make preparing the class worthwhile I could just refund my customers and not run the class!

You can do this with product too! You could, say, print up a single t-shirt, photograph it and set it up as an ad (or showcase on your Facebook page) and start taking sales. Again, if you don’t get enough takers you can decide not to make the product and simply refund the customers who’ve already bought it!

Now I must say, I don’t actually do this! I’m not a huge fan of selling things I don’t have, but it works for lots of people and it might work for you too!

[*Oh look, I do actually have a Time Management class coming up. If you’d like to know when it’s ready just pop your name in here.]

♡ YOU! ♡

Have you got any tips for testing whether your new idea is a goodie?!

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