The Worst Business Advice You’ll Ever Hear:
“If you build it, they will come.”
Bull. Shit.
A website. A perfect logo. A fully baked course. A polished digital product.
Hours spent on Canva picking the perfect fonts and the ideal shade of taupe.
You spend 3 months designing the thing. 2 more trying to promote it. And then? Crickets.
You don’t need another funnel.
You need to know if anyone wants what you’re selling.
This week, we’re talking about how to validate your business idea before you pour time, energy, or money into it.
Because the fastest way to get clarity?
Test it in the real world.
Quote of the Week
“Don’t find customers for your products—find products for your customers.”
Seth Godin
The Hidden Cost of Guessing
Here’s what I see every single week:
✔ Corporate women with deep skills spending months building a website or PDF download.
✔ They burn time writing Instagram captions to “build an audience.”
✔ They believe they need a polished digital product before they’ve even had one paying client.
Let me be blunt.
You do not need a course, a Canva funnel, or 10,000 followers.
You need a paying client.
Preferably next week.
Until someone pays you? You don’t have a business.
The fastest, cheapest, lowest-risk path to real revenue is simple:
👉 Offer a service based on what you already know how to do.
I’m talking no frills, no bells and whistles.
Think Ryanair or Spirit Airlines. NOT Emirates.
That’s your MVP.
What Is an MVP (and Why It Matters in Midlife)
MVP = Minimum Viable Product.
It’s a stripped-down, no-fluff version of your idea—designed to test if people actually want it.
Think of it as a prototype. A tiny experiment with real humans.
You’re not being scrappy.
You’re being smart.
You’ve got decades of experience. You don’t need to create something new.
You need to package what you already do into a service someone can say “yes” to.
💡 Example:
If you’ve spent 15 years managing teams, your MVP could be a 90-minute leadership workshop or coaching three managers inside a startup.
💡 Example:
If you’ve organized events or training sessions, your MVP might be helping a business run a client retreat or onboarding process.
Offer. Test. Adjust. That’s it.
The 3-Step MVP Validation Framework
Let’s walk through how to validate your idea—before you quit your job, max out your energy, or take out your stress on the frying pan.
STEP 1: Find People Already Paying for the Solution
Before you build anything, ask: Does this already exist?
Spoiler: If it does, that’s good news.
✔ Google what services exist in your niche
✔ Check what types of coaching or consulting offers are already out there
✔ Stalk LinkedIn and Instagram—what are people offering? More importantly, what are people buying?
You’re not looking for a unicorn.
You’re looking for proof that money is already changing hands.
Even better? If someone’s already paying you to do this inside your 9-5, you’ve already validated it.
Now you just need one more person to say yes.
STEP 2: Talk to Real Humans
The step everyone skips—and the one that will make you rich faster than any funnel ever will.
Remember a few weeks ago when I told you your first clients are in your network? Time to prove it.
Your job here is to listen—not pitch.
✔ Ask your network what they’re struggling with
✔ Interview 5–10 people who might benefit from your skills
✔ Look for common pain points that you’ve already solved before
Try asking:
- “What’s the most frustrating part of [X] right now?”
- “Have you ever paid someone to help with that?”
- “If I could solve that in a week, would that be valuable?”
And if you get crickets?
Try this magic question:
“If I could make one problem disappear today, what would it be?”
Remember: Painkillers sell better than vitamins.
People will always pay more to stop a problem than to feel 10% better.
STEP 3: Create a Tiny Test Offer
Now that you know what people want, it’s time to test your solution.
Design a low-commitment offer that solves a real pain point:
- One strategy session
- A 2-week coaching container
- A done-for-you service
- A paid audit or workshop
You’re not building a brand.
You’re running a smart experiment.
Price it based on your experience—not your fear.
Offer it to 3–5 people. See what happens.
🎯 If one says yes? You’ve validated it.
💬 A past client of mine—who had ZERO online presence—offered a £150 “team performance review” to two contacts on LinkedIn. She closed both within 72 hours. No branding. No offers page. Just a clean ask.
Why Services > Digital Products (Especially at the Start)
So many women default to digital products. Why?
✔ They feel safe
✔ They’re scalable
✔ Everyone else on Instagram is doing them
But here’s the truth:
Creating a digital product takes time, tech, marketing skills, an audience, and upfront capital.
If you’ve never sold anything, have no online presence, hate tech, and zero marketing skills?
That route isn’t just slow. It’s a self-confidence killer.
Services = Speed.
With services:
✔ You learn what people want
✔ You get paid immediately
✔ You refine your offer in real-time
✔ You build testimonials and momentum
✔ You grow a waitlist, not just a website
Your digital product will come later—and it’ll be better because you’ll build it based on real demand.
This Week’s Action Plan: Validate Your MVP
Here’s what I want you to do:
- List 3 skills you could offer as a service this month
- Google 3–5 competitors already offering that
- Interview 3–5 people about their biggest struggles
- Design one simple, testable offer
- DM or email 5 people and offer it
You don’t need a launch strategy.
You need a conversation.
Closing Thought
Building a business without validation is like trying to guess someone’s Starbucks order—with your own money.
Stop building in a vacuum.
Start selling in real life.
You’re not doing it alone.
With love (and a little fire),
Claudia
