Will It Fly? by Pat Flynn, self-published in February 2016, is a practical guide to testing a business idea before you spend months and savings on it. Flynn, known for the Smart Passive Income blog and podcast, uses an aviation theme throughout: you design the mission, develop the idea, plan the flight and test it in a simulator before takeoff.
What is Will It Fly? about?
Flynn’s starting point is that most failed businesses could have been caught on the ground. Founders fall in love with an idea, build it alone and launch to silence. His fix starts earlier than most validation books, with you rather than the market. If the idea does not fit the life you want, even a successful launch will feel like a trap.
The book has five parts. Mission Design asks you to picture your life five years from now, review what you learned from past work and find your unfair advantage. The Development Lab uses mind maps to grow and prune ideas until you can explain one in a single sentence, then asks for feedback from others. Flight Planning covers market research: mapping the places, people and products in your market, building a detailed customer profile and starting with a small base of true fans. The Flight Simulator tests the idea on a small scale by building a little audience, sharing the solution with the most interested people and asking them to pay, with pre-orders as one option. A short final part prepares the launch.
What makes it different is its warmth and its focus on personal fit. The tone is friendly and encouraging, and the exercises suit people who have never started a business before.
What are the main lessons for founders?
- Start with your own life. Picture where you want to be in five years and test the idea against it. A business that clashes with your goals will drain you even if it sells.
- Use your unfair advantage. List the skills, experience and contacts you have that others lack. Ideas built on them start with a head start.
- Map the market before you build. Note the websites, forums, events and influential people your customers follow. That map shows where to find your first buyers.
- Aim for a small base of true fans. A few hundred committed customers can support a small online business. Serve them first.
- Ask for money early. The real test is a payment. A pre-order or a paid pilot with a small group proves demand far better than sign-ups or likes.
Who should read Will It Fly?
It suits solo founders, side-project builders, people leaving a job to start something online, and creators planning a course, a membership, a book or a digital product. It also helps career changers who are unsure which of several ideas to pursue.
Skip it if you are building a deep tech product, a business that sells to large companies or a venture that needs investment before launch. The method fits small online businesses best.
How do you put Will It Fly? to work this week?
- Write a short description of your ideal life in five years and check your idea against it.
- Build a market map with 10 places, 10 people and 10 products your customers already use.
- Offer a pre-order or a paid pilot to 20 people from that map and count how many pay within 7 days.
If you are still choosing between ideas, the free Idea Validator on Fe/male Switch helps you compare them before you start the tests.
Where does Will It Fly? fall short?
The book comes from the world of online courses, blogging and affiliate income, and most examples reflect that. Founders building software with complex sales, physical products or regulated services will find little specific help. The many personal exercises make it long for readers who already know what they want. It also covers customer conversations only briefly. For deeper interview technique, read The Mom Test, and for a broader library of tests, Testing Business Ideas.