“Everything You Do MUST Have Value to Others.” That’s the title of a Career Opportunities podcast I listened to recently. It made a recommendation we should all consider when we doing just about anything.

I see this problem over and over again.  Someone takes an idea for a new business, a product idea or even something they’d like to do as a career and when they execute the idea, it flops.  It gets flat out rejected by the target audience.  Then everyone sits around staring at each other asking, “What happened?”

Those in denial might be tempted to blame the economic climate, the user’s inability to grasp the concept, a lack of support, distribution network, etc. etc.  There’s no shortage of excuses.

The BIG, BIG, BIG question to ask is:

What value does it have for others?

It’s tough to stay objective when you work on something for a long time.  Your passion takes over and it’s tough to stay objective. That being the case, you’re typically the last one that’s going to call your baby ugly. But unless you ask yourself this question and really work to get the true answer, you could be making a huge mistake.

You have to ask yourself:

• What do other people see in it? 
• What’s your spouse, friends and fellow business contacts think? 
• Did you ask them? 
• Are you afraid to?

I know when someone presents me with an idea, my first question inside is, “What’s in it for me?” The podcast says just that.  It’s just the way people think.  People have so many options.  They need a way to quickly trudge through things and pick out what matters from what doesn’t.

So if you are considering a move, deciding upon a new business, product or some other new venture, here are some steps you can follow to force yourself to identify its value before you spend a lot of wasted effort.

Step 1 – Explain the Idea to an Outsider. The key here is to get outside your head and the saying, “Birds of a feather flock together” plays against you here.  People in the same industry or the same age group or the same peer group often see things from the same perspective.  This develops a blind spot that can prevent you from seeing how your audience could miss your value.

If you can’t get someone to understand the value in a few paragraphs you’ve got to go do some homework.  Either your idea sucks or you have to work on the value it provides.  Remember: If your audience can see the value, there is no value.

Step 2 – Ask your spouse. (Careful here.  This one’s dangerous.  It just might hit your ego.) If you are married or in a longer term relationship, you and your other half probably see the world differently.  Figure that half of your potential audience sees your product from the other person’s perspective.  Also figure your spouse isn’t as tied to your idea as you are.  They can be a little more objective.

If they’ve been down on your idea from the beginning, explore the reasons why.  If it’s because of the risk or issues it brings up in their life (like a reduction in security), you have some other things to discuss.  Maybe I’ll write about that one in the future.

However, if you can dig and discover why they don’t see value, you have ammunition for improving it or deciding against it.

Here’s some food for thought.  If you have avoided updated your spouse on the idea, if it feels more like a scheme, ask yourself, “Why is that?” Are you hiding something from them?  Are you hiding something from yourself? 

A spouses is an inexpensive sounding boards vested in your outcome.  Leveraging the relationship can reveal some interesting info.

Step 3 – Take advantage of organizations. If you have a business idea, take a look at your local SCORE office.  They have program where experienced executives review your idea and provide you with some feedback.  If you are considering a job change, make a point of meeting with a recruiter or two.  Get their thoughts on your career change idea and how best to go about it.  If you have an idea for a product, check out what your local business schools have available.  Sometimes faculty or entrepreneur programs there are eager to hear about ideas like yours so their students can apply what they’ve learned on real world projects.

I’m sure you can come up with other ideas, but the key is to confirm the value of your project in the early stages before you commit a lot of time and resources to it.  That way as you proceed you have the assurance your own passion and biases aren’t your worst enemies.

Anyone have examples of an approach you took the look over the value of your idea?