In 2015, I had the worst business idea ever created.

MyGuru.World

Whenever someone asked me how I was doing, I immediately told them how excited I was to launch this business.

The goal was to be the next Mindvalley or Masterclass.

I had no experience in this industry, no unique hook, no differentiator… but that didn’t slow my enthusiasm.

I put $1,000 I didn’t have on a credit card to get started.

Software and the domain name? Check.

Brilliant idea? Check.

Now I just needed to launch.

When I officially hit launch in November 2015, I was expecting a massive influx of customers who resonated with this idea.

I sat at my kitchen table, holding my breath, taring at the website analytics.

I hit refresh… Zero visitors…

I hit refresh again.

One visitor.

Zero sign ups…

Again.

Zero visitors…

A wave of nausea slowly crept in.

Nausea… and panic.

I put every spare moment into this project.

I spent money that I didn’t have.

I needed this to work.

I hit refresh again. Zero visitors.

This was the moment I learned… Marrying an idea does not mean you will get results.

It means you will struggle longer than you need and ignore any warning signs.

In the Writerpreneur Community Coffee Chat on Friday, we had questions about where to start when building your audience.

This first step is to come up with an idea and test it.

It doesn’t matter how good you think your idea is, how passionate you are, or how large of a need you believe you serve.

There is no idea that should be married.

You should treat every idea as an intern rather then a life-partner.

If the idea shows signs that it can get the results you want, keep it around.

If it doesn’t, you try a new one.