Your idea will change and it may at some point barely resemble the one that first gave you inspiration. I'm just going to say it, in case no one else is willing to say it for you: The idea in your head or scribbled on a napkin is probably crap. Plus, it lets you approach potential investors with financials that are based on real figures, which they love to see. Finding out what people need and what they are willing to pay for first makes so much more sense - and it saves you a lot of time and money. If we hadn't received the direction that we did, we probably would have built the company like a spec house, based on everything we thought our customers wanted/needed.
We never thought we would end up where we are today, but most entrepreneurs say the exact same thing. Our customers changed from advertisers and pet owners to veterinarians who wanted appointment-booking software. In a few short weeks, we completed transformed into a s oftware-as-a-service, or SaaS, business model. We started this company with an advertising-based business model in mind. We had a match! They desperately needed a way to manage the front-desk chaos, reach new clients, retain existing clients, and measure their ad dollars. Then we flipped the table and spoke to as many vets we could gather to find out their pain points. T hey wanted more than what we were offering - turns out they wanted us to both help them find the right product and to guide them to a veterinarian.
After many a conversation with potential buyers, we created software that would solve their problems. We set out to talk to 50 pet owners to find out exactly what their pain points are on a daily basis. After all, your idea still sucks at this point until you hear from people who are actually ready to pay you money for it.
So armed with that direction, we set out to learn from our users and potential users exactly what they wanted to see us develop. As one mentor put it, " you never have a shortage of ideas, just focus and execute on one!" After meeting with my mentors, we narrowed our focus to one revenue model. Lesson learned, I needed to hone in on a real revenue generator. and the list went on and on with no focus. So why did my original idea suck? Well for starters, I had too many ideas on ways to monetize the site: First we were going to be about content and ads, then products, then subscriptions. It took time and money for me to understand that sticking to my guns and pushing against the natural evolution of the company was not the right way to go. Never in a million years did I think I would run a software company and sell to this particular audience.