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96 6 SECRETS TO STARTUP SUCCESS

ketplace). The former circumstance calls for quick, focused action,
whereas the latter calls for a big picture reevaluation of your overall
business model and approach. In some cases, early sales shortfalls are
a canary in the coal mine, an advance signal that the market for your
idea is too weak to support a profitable business. If you can grasp this
possibility early enough, you’ll have a healthy head start on redirect-
ing your assets and capabilities to a more welcoming opportunity.

Antidote to the Passion Trap: Give Your Idea a
Market Scrub

The best way to protect yourself from attachment to a nonviable
business idea is to scrutinize your concept through a market lens. The
five sets of questions below will force you to take a market-oriented
look at your product or service and better understand your prospec-
tive customer base. (This is a simplified list taken from a more thor-
ough set of market-oriented questions contained in the “Startup
Readiness Tool” in Appendix A.)

Most likely, these questions will be hard to answer on your first
pass. They are designed to provoke scrutiny and analysis of your idea,
to lessen your danger of falling into the passion trap and, ultimately,
to improve your odds of finding fertile ground for your business idea.
Try to develop a well-thought-out perspective on each of the follow-
ing questions, understanding that your answers will shift over time as
you begin to grow your customer base.

1. What basic need or problem are you addressing? What is your
value proposition to the customer? Lynn Ivey personally ex-
perienced the confusion, worry, and frustration that families
feel as they try to care for loved ones struggling with cogni-
tive dementia. By providing a “home away from home,” dur-
ing the daytime hours, The Ivey would give family caregivers
much needed relief and peace of mind and provide ailing
seniors with high-quality care and stimulation. Lynn’s clear
identification of an acute need was a great starting point, but
her challenge would lie in convincing her target audience

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