​What’s your process for validating your product or service.

What are some steps you all go through to validate a new business idea or service you might want to start. What are some of the challenges you’ve personally faced or seen from friends and family when going through this phase. I’m thinking of starting a business — me being data driven I want to understand if there is actual value in my idea. So gathering feedback from those that might have already gone through this validation process. Agin if you don’t mind sharing maybe your process, and some challenges you’ve faced during this phase.