In this age of increasing entrepreneurship, it seems just about everyone has an idea for a new business, product or service. Unfortunately, not all of those ideas are well-received. Having their idea turned inside-out and upside-down by a focus group is every aspiring entrepreneur’s fear, but it does happen.
The important thing for up-and-coming entrepreneurs to understand is how to pick themselves up and try again even if a focus group session goes worse than expected. Here, 15 members of Forbes Coaches Council share expert advice on next steps entrepreneurs can take to get back to work on ideas after they’ve been shot down.
Forbes Coaches Council members share ways aspiring entrepreneurs can recover from a focus group gone wrong and get back to work on their big ideas.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Scrutinize Your Criteria For Selecting Participants
Focus groups, by design, are composed of people who represent your target market. Scrutinize your criteria for selecting individuals for the group. Then form additional groups before scrapping your idea. Evaluate their feedback and see if your idea can be tweaked and improved. Then, in the words of Kenny Rogers, “Know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em.” – Ron Young, Trove, Inc.
2. Trust Your Gut And Follow Your Passion
Focus groups can be helpful, but true entrepreneurs need to trust their guts, especially if they are serial entrepreneurs. Most startup leaders have a passion for an idea, and this passion is what drives them. Many focus group members have no clue about entrepreneurial passion, so I would not let those opinions sway my gut. – Dan Ryan, ryan partners
3. Acquire More Inspiring Strategies
A focus group is a good place to acquire more inspiring strategies for a goal you have in mind. The participants’ ideas and tips will help structure a good execution plan. When the ideas become too many and confusing to the point of disruption, the aspiring entrepreneur should revisit the “why,” “where,” “what” and “how” questions around the original idea. Leveraging a good mentor or coach to explore further will help. – Janet Adetu, JSK CONSULTING GROUP
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4. Motivate, Investigate, Network And Evaluate
Critical feedback is always difficult to swallow, especially if it is coming from more than one source. However, there are gems in both negative and positive feedback. Next steps are to review your ambitions, ask for a copy of the feedback and read the feedback carefully. Believe in your product or service and acknowledge its weaknesses. I live by my personal motto: MINE—motivate, investigate, network and evaluate. – Michaelene Holder-March, MHM Business Solutions
5. Ask Questions And Listen To Critical Feedback
It’s always hard to hear critical feedback, but entrepreneurs need to listen. When we fall in love with our solution to a problem, we might be missing critical information about what the real problem is. Make sure you resist the urge to “tell” people about your solution. Ask questions, and really listen to what people share with you. – Thomas Frank, Ascend Coaching and Training
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6. Stay Curious And Reboot
This curveball and detour are a gift. Here’s how to reboot: Care more about inquiry than advocacy—especially early in an entrepreneurial venture. Refocus on what they need rather than what you think. Maintain your original spark (the new idea, passion or calling), but let go of attachment to one solution or outcome. Finally, double down on exploration and imagination. – Anne Harbison, JourneyLead Consulting
7. Go Back To The Drawing Board With New Perspective
Having different perspectives is good. When you are innovating and coming up with new business ideas, gathering feedback and looking for new insights is important for testing out your idea, and it often helps you develop your initial idea even further. Take all the ideas and thoughts received from the focus group and go back to the drawing board to see what better ideas you can come up with. – Nida Leardprasopsuk, Nidaleard
8. Get A Second Opinion From Another Focus Group
No one likes to hear that their business idea sucks, especially from a focus group that may be made up of their idea of ideal clients. However, it is always worthwhile to get a second opinion, and it may be worth trying another focus group. Whatever comes back, it will be about taking on the feedback and making the necessary steps to possibly pivot and keep moving forward. – Rakish Rana, The Clear Coach
9. Hold On To Your Self-Belief
The key to this is your self-belief and your belief in your idea. If you have fully planned and executed your launch strategy, paused and revisited it, and you still have confidence that your idea is viable, then have the courage to trust your gut. Focus group members are not entrepreneurs and are usually unlikely to have ever conceived and launched a unique idea or concept. – Regan Hillyer, Regan Hillyer International
10. Run A Practical Real-World Market Test
Focus groups, while valuable, can be misleading. Will a small group of 12 or fewer people really catch your vision? Instead, try to run a real-world, practical market test. Set up a simple one-page website with your product or service. Send it to your network, buy some Google or Facebook ads for $10 a day. If you’ve got a good offer, people will vote with their credit cards. – Jeremiah Desmarais, Advisorist.com
11. Do A ‘So What’ And ‘Now What’ Analysis
Do a simple “so what” and “now what” analysis of the feedback received. The “so what” portion can help you dig into the holes: So what does this mean for your idea, which is very valid and needs to be addressed critically? The “now what” segment is forward planning, the plan of action: Now what do you do to take this forward? Let the emotion subside and work with the facts to determine the next steps. – Arthi Rabikrisson, Prerna Advisory
12. Perform An Autopsy On The Focus Group’s Questionnaire
Perform an autopsy on the questionnaire and consider the age of the participants. (I have heard ideas that Gen-X loved but Millennials hated.) I would ask, “How large is the market?” Consider the feedback buckets that drew disfavor. Was it the general idea? Customer convenience? Price? If the market is $200 billion, then maybe you will only capture 2% of it. If the market opportunity is less than $100 million, then learn and move on. – Todd Zaugg, Matrix Achievement Group
13. Practice Agility By Considering Ways To Leverage The Feedback
What have you missed? What’s in their feedback that you hadn’t considered? Use this feedback as a gift: an opportunity to reset. It doesn’t mean you have to throw out everything that you’ve done; look for even small nuggets of alignment. There may be a new business idea in leveraging the great work you’ve already done with the new insights you now have. Find the gold. – Kathleen Woodhouse, Nova Leadership
14. Use Affinity Mapping To Explore Themes In The Feedback
Feedback is a gift, and the themes in it are golden. Look for a possible change or enhancement you could make to your idea within the themes. Also, consider the possibility that you may not have clearly articulated your idea in a way that captured the group’s imagination. Develop your ability to convey ideas through story, metaphor and problem-solving. – Ron N Hurst, Developing Leaders
15. Use A Business Model Canvas And Look At Your Value Proposition
This is a great opportunity to evaluate your product or service. Changing from your original business idea can be a hard decision to make, but at times it will be necessary to do so. As an entrepreneur, you need to do the right assessment and judge whether your business is moving in the right direction. The first step is to use a business model canvas and look at your value proposition. – Brent McHugh, Christar International
