Woz U

While there is no way to guarantee that your startup will be a success, you can put in work to stack the odds in your favor. Here are five tips to evaluate your technology business idea.

Identify a Problem That Your Idea Can Solve

Ideas that succeed are not merely the ones that produce unique products; they’re the ones that solve real problems. Consider Airbnb for example. The founders of Airbnb saw a real problem in the travel industry, and their service offered a solution of accessible and affordable accommodations. On the other end of the spectrum, look at Google Glass. Google’s short-lived smart glasses were deemed unnecessary by the public, and ultimately failed. This is because Google failed to identify the need for their product. While Google could recover from a flawed idea, a new technology startup may not be so fortunate.

Consider Customer Experience

Building a successful business involves establishing a reputation among a loyal customer base. You have to earn your base, and providing a positive customer experience is a good way to do so. As the name indicates, customer experience focuses on how audiences interact with your product or service. When evaluating your idea, think of what you want your users to experience while using your product. Innovative technology startups put customer experience at the forefront. Blendle is a good example of this. This news platform offers a way for users to see news from different outlets on one service. This gives customers an improved experience from having to read the news on different websites.

Identify How You Will Develop Your Product

Big ideas are important, but a good startup needs to plan how to make their ideas into reality. A key decision in starting a technology company is deciding how you will develop your product. You may choose full-stack development, which entails development on both the front-end and back-end. Being able to perform full-stack development requires technological prowess, and while this allows you a great deal of control over your idea, it is dependent upon the ability of the developers.

Focus on Security in a Technology Startup

Startups are highly vulnerable to cyber-attacks, and hackers have taken advantage of these vulnerabilities in recent years. To establish customer trust, a company needs to be able to prove that they are a secure product or service. When evaluating your startup, ensure that you are using secure and trusted technologies. Make sure that your developers are familiar with security threats and are taking necessary precautions.

Strategically Plan Your Launch or MVP

Infamous streaming service Quibi launched in the midst of the pandemic. Audiences didn’t understand the service, and it failed in six months. While a better launch window may not have saved the doomed Quibi, it certainly would have helped. When launching your startup, you may want to consider Minimum Viable Product, or MVP. This innovative launch strategy involves launching an earlier version of the product. This allows a startup to receive feedback and establish a customer base while still developing. Related to the idea of MVP is Lean Software Development, wherein developers focus only on what is absolutely necessary to launch a product or service. 

Find More Tips to Evaluate Your Technology Startup Business Idea

Starting a technology business can be as intimidating as it can be exciting. If you have an idea and want to turn it into a reality, check out the innovative and renowned programs from Woz U, and build your next great idea in months, not years.