How do you know if a problem is big enough to work on and whether it will have a good enough market?<p>I've conducted a small survey to identify a probable market for a problem before started building anything, and it turned out to have mixed results.<p>Like 55%-45% split.<p>How do you decide whether a problem is big enough solving?
Personally, I find surveys don't work. In tech, you want to be building products that are 10x better. e.g. half the price, 10x faster, but at half the quality. But a thing like this is just never going to be understandable in a survey.<p>Like if Uber wanted to launch, what kind of survey would they even put up? Hail a taxi, but it's someone's car and they'll treat you better than a professional? Also it'll be safer than a licensed, regulated taxi.<p>Gmail: Would you like 1 GB of email storage vs Microsoft's 5 MB? (and it's free, filters spam better, and has a better UI)<p>Steam: Would you like to buy games for an average 4 times cheaper, and download them fast, legally when you feel like it? The CDs won't scratch and you can own the games on any PC with internet access.<p>Instagram: Would you like a shareable photo album that is infinitely cheaper than Photobucket with unlimited storage? Oh, it makes you prettier too.<p>If you can ask questions in a survey, that don't make people suspicious, maybe you're not aiming high enough.
While I am happy to go into TAM and related metrics, I am assuming this is your first successful startup.<p>In that case, don't worry about the market - infact, having just a few dozen paying customers who can be fit in 1 to max 3 personas but those that you understand very well, can reach well and get immediate feedback from is very important.<p>> I've conducted a small survey to identify a probable market for a problem before started building anything, and it turned out to have mixed results.<p>- How exactly did you conduct the small survey?<p>- What kind of questions did you ask?<p>- Did you use a form or conducted 1:1 interviews?<p>- How did you source the participants?<p>- What was the motivation of the participants?<p>> Like 55%-45% split<p>split of what?<p>Is your solution a whisper idea? Or can you share it?
Check this matrix out, it'll help you think about it <a href="https://www.getrevue.co/profile/mjwhansen/issues/analyzing-customer-interviews-with-the-pain-and-frequency-matrix-426968" rel="nofollow">https://www.getrevue.co/profile/mjwhansen/issues/analyzing-c...</a>
Probably not what you are looking for but might be worth it<p><a href="https://blog.appsumo.com/validating-your-business-idea/" rel="nofollow">https://blog.appsumo.com/validating-your-business-idea/</a>
n / (m-c)<p>Where n is the number of instances of the problem, m is price the market will pay for solving an instance and c is the cost of solving it.