Stage 1 of 5
Validate
Is this a real problem for a customer you can reach, who wants it solved?
Gate: Stop here.Tasks in this stage
11 of 16 done
- ✓Describe who has the problem and what it is
- ✓List at least three places to find them
- ○Write why someone would switch
- + 13 more
What the founder did: talked to 11 people: club secretaries, judges and handlers from four Canterbury clubs. All 11 liked it, and 9 said they'd use it right away. Then the founder counted: about 150 trial clubs in New Zealand, each running a few trials a season. Secretaries said a club might pay NZ$100–200 a year, since entry fees barely cover prize money.
What the guide flagged: the pain is real and the people who have it love the idea, so the guide put the market next to the cost. Even if every club in the country signed up at NZ$150 a year, that's about NZ$22,500 a year in total. Support would also land on the founder during lambing and shearing, the busiest months on the farm.
Why No-go: the whole market is about 150 clubs, each willing to pay NZ$100–200 a year. If a third signed up, that's roughly NZ$7,500 a year before costs, for software that has to work perfectly on trial days, often with no mobile signal. It's a lovely club project and not a business.
The market math
≈150 clubs × NZ$150 a year = NZ$22,500 if every club joined. A third of them: about NZ$7,500 a year, before hosting, texts and support.