We’ve all had those lightbulb moments when we think we’ve come up with the next big thing. Whether it be an app, service or product, every small business owner has, at some point, convinced themselves that their next idea is an absolute gem. Often these ideas start to fall apart as soon as you try to get something down on paper, but every once in a while, we all get that one idea that just won’t go away.

If we get an idea that doesn’t lose its early promise the more you think about it, how can you take the idea and make it into the reality of a startup? Well, on this episode of the number one small business podcast, we’re joined by Al Bentley who has taken his initial idea and created Simply Wall Street, a service aimed at making us all better investors by provided financial data in a new way.

Leaving square one can sometimes be the most difficult stage on a journey as there is so much to think about we can suffer from paralysis by analysis. Validating your idea is the obvious starting point, and Al recommends breaking down different parts of your idea and validating them in a modular way. This can help with focus and it can also tell you where your idea isn’t working so you can pivot or adapt a single feature as opposed to scrapping the whole idea.

Don’t let your great idea get bogged down in this way. Get out there and tell people about it. Make sure that the problem that you are hoping to solve is widespread enough and that there is a big enough market out there. Once you’ve done so, you can start preparing to help your idea grow in earnest.

Al is going to tell us all about his, and Simply Wall Street’s, journey from idea to startup. He will also be providing three actionable tips that can help guide you on your path.

Issue Challenged in this Small Business Podcast Episode:

How can I turn my idea into a startup?

About Al:

Al Bentley is the CEO and co-founder of an innovative new startup, Simply Wall Street. The company aims to help people become better investors through the use of detailed infographics which can be understood more easily than the typical, dry financial data that they consult before investing.

Investing in stocks can be a minefield and the amount of information out there can be overwhelming, which often leads to poor choices. Simply Wall Street provides over 10,000 infographics every day for companies listed on stock exchanges in the US, the UK and Australia.

Al’s Actionable Tips:

* Validate your idea. You have to be confident that you’ve found a genuine problem with a big potential market. Don’t worry about the solution at the beginning. You can break things down into small projects.

* Prepare your life. It’s worth making preparations to make the move to operating your own startup easier. Often startups fail because the founders haven’t adequately prepared their lives.

* Ask yourself if you really need to build it. Do you really need to build an app or a website? Or could you frame your solution in another way?

Top Quotes:

* “We believe that self-directed investing doesn’t have to be that difficult.”

* “What we aim to do is to turn people into better investors.”

* “Validation is the single most important thing you need to do. Until you’ve validated an idea you’re potentially wasting your own time.”

* “Nobody uses an app just for the user experience. You need to focus on a problem and make sure that you are providing a solution to that problem.”

* “It’s important to not be scared to share your ideas. Don’t try and keep it shrouded in secrecy and you’ll get far further by telling people about it than by trying to hide it.”

* “If you’re jumping right to the solution, you probably haven’t understood the problem.”