Anyone who has been in my workshops over the past year will have seen my growing interest in the field of rapid assumptions testing, and will probably have filled in a Strategyzer Test Card.
What’s fascinating is that this part of the session always gets a flat response from the group, and that only makes me more determined.
I’d started introducing the tools as “Here’s something you’ll hate but will be glad you did…”, but I’m no longer apologising for the discomfort of real-world testing.

The results (for those who actually do the tests) are remarkable: they either stumble upon a priceless insight, or they save themselves from an expensive mistake.
Here’s a quote from one participant in our WhatsApp group:

“So I’m so excited I wanted to share with you all, I just conducted my first interview! It was AMAZING! I found out what my customer wants rather than “what they say they want or what I think they should want”. Used tips from the links Anna provided. All very helpful! The customer even suggested they’d like to see a quarterly newsletter with updates from us! Like what, why didn’t I think of that?? Anyway I am really seeing the value in a face to face conversation. I am bringing cupcakes along so they’re already excited even before we get talking haha. Can’t wait to get more interviews done this week. Thanks Anna and Isaac!”

So the process works.
Testing only makes you stronger.
It doesn’t cost much, doesn’t take much time, and presents very little risk.
Why is this so unpopular?
I have two main theories, and you might not like them.
The two objections to testing stem from cowardice and arrogance.
Let’s have a closer look at each of them… 

Cowardice
Testing is unpleasant if you believe the test will reveal something demoralising about your business.
Most entrepreneurs are comfortable with hard work, but rejection is different.
We’re not afraid of more items being added to the to-do list, we’re afraid of being a failure, of being seen as a failure, of starting over again.
We have a suspicion that our business will be exposed as being somehow inadequate, and that we in turn will be exposed as being inadequate.
Feedback has the power to devastate us, and make us want to quit the game.

Of course none of this is true – failure is an event, not a person.
A flaw in your business is by no means a flaw in your character.
But when you’ve poured so much of yourself into this idea, it’s very hard to separate your worth from the merits of what you’ve created.

Arrogance
Testing feels unnecessary if you believe you’re right.
Why waste time and resources on proving something you know to be true?
A lot of entrepreneurs have spent long hours refining their gut instincts and thinking about their ideas, and sometimes this leads them to believe that they don’t need to check their assumptions.
They know the enormous potential of their business, and they can’t see how they could be wrong.

It’s arrogant to think that you know more about your customers than your customers.
It’s arrogant to believe that you couldn’t have a blind spot.
It’s arrogant to believe that all of your assumptions are as good as facts.

The Two Are Connected
What’s interesting is that these aren’t either/or, they usually feed off each other.
Both people are trying to protect their ego, not their business.
Both people invest their identity in their project going flawlessly, with no backwards steps or perceived failures.
Both would rather proceed with blind optimism than to check their assumptions in the real world.
Both would rather win big or lose big than change their minds. 

Resolving Your Objections
The aim here is not to hit you with an unflattering label, but to help you diagnose and remove the beliefs that are holding you back from the truth.
Testing, if done well, is the truth – the truth about your market, your capacity, your financial viability, your options for the future.
The truth shouldn’t scare you.
False beliefs should scare you.
Investing heavily in a doomed idea should scare you.
Ignoring the truth when it’s staring you in the face should scare you.

The first step is to untangle your self-worth from the success of your business.
At The Difference Incubator, we choose entrepreneurs more than we choose ideas.
Ideas are everywhere, but good people are scarce.
We’re betting on the person to succeed in the long run, even if their first business ideas aren’t successful.
You can make this same mental shift, measuring your entrepreneurial decision-making rather than your immediate results.
It’s possible to make bad choices and be rewarded in the short term, but that doesn’t make you a good decision-maker.
Why not commit to making great decisions, rather than putting your worth into nailing your first business?

The second step is to see the truth as being your friend.
This friend can save you countless dollars, hours and sleepless nights.
Good ideas are often sitting right near the bad ideas, and the truth might show you that your initial suspicions were almost brilliant.
It can give you a nudge towards a better product, a better market, a better pricing strategy, a better partnership agreement – the vital twist that makes all the difference.

The third step is to quantify the benefits of a great test.
In the earlier quote you saw an entrepreneur who is delighted at her return on investment – she’s received
valuable advice and customer insights, for the price of a few hours and a batch of cupcakes.
Imagine if you discover that you can raise your prices or sell larger packages – the boost to your revenues is tremendous.
Or what if you find out that this business can’t make a profit – this wisdom will give you back tens of thousands of dollars along with at least six months of your life.
A test is so much cheaper than building the business, the value for money is remarkable.

If you’ve done these three steps, testing becomes an attractive proposition.
If your assumptions are correct, you now feel better about the business and are in a better place to persuade investors.
If your assumptions are a little off, you can identify improvements and get creative, earning more money and growing much faster than you would have before.
If your assumptions are way off the mark, you’ll be so glad you found out today, before you made significant personal investments of time and money.

More importantly, you’ve removed your self-worth from the fate of your startup, a great decision for your mental health.

Now you’re ready to go, have a look at The Strategyzer Test Card, and start planning your Customers Interviews!