The Business Validation Process: A Step-by-Step Guide
Let’s talk about validation, the process of testing ideas before investing too much time, money, or energy.
Over the past five years, I’ve slowly built this process myself. I learned by going through different steps in product building, and by speaking to VCs, successful founders, and other entrepreneurs. My goal was to create the perfect validation process, one that helps people avoid building too early and losing money.
What I came up with is a framework that lets you test an idea first, giving it a much better chance of success.
1. Problem Validation
The most important step: confirm that a real problem exists.
When I was at Antler, the VCs constantly told us: “Validate the problem, validate the problem.” At the time, it was nauseating to hear over and over, but they were absolutely right.
Most people start with a product idea and assume the problem exists. They build something, only to discover it solves nothing.
Here’s how to avoid that trap:
Go to your target market. If you don’t have one, figure it out, without that, you’ve got nothing.
Conversations must be face-to-face. Whether in person or via video call, you’ll learn much more from real conversations than from surveys or questionnaires.
Summarise every conversation. Write notes afterward and look for patterns and recurring pain points.
💡 Tip: Start with ten people. If most of them agree the problem exists and share details about it, you’ve validated the problem. If they don’t, your solution is solving nothing.
The more painful the problem, the better your chances of building something valuable, especially when it comes to sales.
2. Solution Validation
Once the problem is validated, the next step is to see if your solution actually works.
There are two approaches:
If you already have a solution: Go back to the same people and ask, “Does this solve your problem?”
If yes → great!
If no → the problem is real, but your solution needs tweaking.
If you don’t have a solution yet: Stay in the discovery phase. Ask people what their ideal solution would look like. Use their input to design something.
The dream scenario is when people not only confirm the problem, but also describe the same kind of solution. That’s when you know you’ve achieved problem–solution fit.
But remember: that only applies to the people you’ve spoken to. The next step is testing it at scale.
3. Early Traction
Now that you have problem–solution fit, it’s time to test whether the idea works beyond your first group of interviews.
This is about early traction, not full-scale growth.
Build a proof of concept. This can be as simple as:
A waitlist
A landing page
A short explainer
Go beyond your network. If you validated with 10 mechanics, now reach out to 100, ideally cold contacts.
Look for real interest. If strangers sign up or engage, you’ve got early traction.
That interest is a powerful signal that you’re on the right track.
4. MVP and Commitment
Once you’ve tested early traction, you’re ready to build a minimum viable product (MVP).
This doesn’t mean a complex app. It just means the simplest working version of your solution.
At this stage, you’re looking for commitment, not just interest.
Commitment can look like:
People paying for it 💰
People spending time using it ⏳
People recommending it to others 🤝
Example: If you’re building a workflow tool for mechanics, your MVP could be a simple database or a lightweight app where they input workflows. If they use it, or better, pay for it, you’ve validated commitment.
If no one uses it, the problem wasn’t painful enough. If they jump on it right away, you’re onto something.
5. Iterate Based on Behaviour
Just because someone tries your MVP once doesn’t mean it’s perfect.
You need to watch how people actually use it:
Tools like Hotjar or Mouseflow can show exactly where people click, what confuses them, and where they get stuck.
Keep iterating based on this data.
Don’t expect to get it right the first time.
When users start engaging with your product in the same way consistently, and they keep coming back, that’s when you know you’ve built something solid.
💡 Even with just 50 MVP users, you can refine and improve until the experience feels seamless.
6. When to Build Properly
Here’s where many founders trip up: rushing into code too early.
Only invest in a fully coded product when the solution is proven.
That’s when it makes sense to worry about:
Security
Scalability
Robust architecture
Until then, a no-code MVP can take you surprisingly far. You can build a fantastic product without writing a line of code at first.
The pressure to “build properly” often comes from wanting to raise money or scale too quickly. Resist that urge until you’ve validated at every step.
Conclusion
If you’ve followed this framework:
✅ You’ve validated the problem
✅ You’ve validated the solution
✅ You’ve proven intent with a POC
✅ You’ve proven traction with an MVP
✅ You’ve got real commitment
At this point, you’re ready to launch, with confidence.
This is the ideal way to validate a product without wasting time, money, or energy on the wrong idea.