No one believes in my idea: now what?

Hearing "that won't work" from every side hurts. And it's confusing: does everyone see something you don't, or do you see something no one has seen yet? Both happen. The difference isn't in the strength of your faith in the idea. It's in who said no and why. This page is for when the nos have piled up and the project feels alone; if you've just heard the first one, see They said my idea won't work.

The practical path

1. Make a list of the nos. Write down who said it, what they said and what the argument was. The list often shows that the nos came from people who would never buy what you want to sell.
2. Classify each no. There are four kinds: - A market no: whoever has the problem doesn't want to pay for the solution. This one deserves full attention. - A timing no: the idea is good, but the market isn't ready yet, or that moment has passed. - A person no: whoever said it doesn't understand the subject, is afraid for you or has other interests. - An execution no: the idea works, but the way of doing it, the price or the channel is wrong.
3. Swap opinion for evidence. Instead of debating, run a small test: a pre-sale, a page with a reserve button, a handmade service for five customers. Evidence ends a discussion better than argument does.
4. Listen to the no of those who would pay. If potential customers say no, ask what would make them say yes. Sometimes the answer changes the idea in a way that makes it much better.
5. Don't confuse stubbornness with persistence. Persisting is insisting on the problem and changing the solution when the data says so. Stubbornness is insisting on the solution against the data.
6. Protect your self-esteem. Rejecting your idea isn't rejecting you. Talk to people who have started businesses; entrepreneur groups and Sebrae help you find reference points outside your family.

Henry Ford, as Napoleon Hill tells it in Think and Grow Rich, heard from his engineers that the single-block V8 engine was impossible, and told them to keep going. In 1932 the Ford V8 hit the streets. The story is inspiring, but notice: Ford had engineers, a factory and tests. His persistence was work, not just conviction.

How Bairo went through it

Bairo Leandro Gonzalez Martinez has heard "it can't be done," "it isn't possible" and "you can't" more times than he can count. When he wanted to use artificial intelligence and augmented reality in a business, people said it wouldn't work. He gave up, and years later the technology became a trend. When he decided to make natural-based cosmetics, he heard the same no. This time he kept going, and it worked.

Years later, while building the foundation of the CEASA Bank platform, he heard again, he says, that it wasn't possible; the banks refused to integrate the solution. He used the no as ground and went on to build his own infrastructure. That's where the sentence that became the rule of his life comes from: every no is the ground of a yes.

The Method step

This is the page for step 2 of the Seventh Attempt Method: ask what is inside the no. List the last five nos and classify each one. Only the market no tells you to change the idea; the others call for patience, adjustment or simply moving forward.

Discover the Seventh Attempt Method

Read also

• Did my idea come too early?
• How to validate a business idea
• Every no is the ground of a yes
• They said my idea won't work: how to react to the no