The “want to be a” Startup Drill
When you have an idea and you intend to embark on a wilderness yet joyous ride of entrepreneurship, it is good to sit down and think, instead of jumping to product development and having delusional dreams of owning a Bentley(Of course, i had my dreams). Clarity of thought would go a long way in helping you to better understand your task at hand.
The “want to be a” Startup Drill
Problem – Solution
As you may have heard in countless blog posts and talks, start by identifying the problem statement and your solution.
Questions to be answered:
What is the problem that you are trying to solve?
What is your solution?
Market Type
Generally, there can be two types of ideas – New and Existing.
New Market Type: You have an idea which has not been attempted before. Currently, there is no product available in market that has this idea(either in original form or variation of it). It is path breaking, disruptive, innovative, unique (Entrepreneurs would love to throw these words randomly)
Existing Market Type: There are other products that have the same idea in its core. There is an existing market and is quite thriving. Founders do not want to position their idea as an existing one and they are offended when someone points it out. There is nothing wrong in saying that your idea is not a new one. Idea is just a commodity. Success lies only in the execution of it.
Competitors
Questions to be answered:
Who are your competitors?
What are the problems faced by customers while using the product of your competitors?
How are you different from your competitors?
Is there a need for your solution?
Questions to be answered:
Can i use an existing product or Google to solve this problem? (or) Why should i buy it from you? (or) Why should i use your product?
Customer Base
Questions to be answered:
What is your customer base/customer segment? (or) Who really wants it solved? (or) Who do you think will use your product/service?
Value Proposition
When you have found satisfying answers to all the questions, you would be in a ideal position to write down the value proposition of your company.Value Propositions are the the most important reasons for a customer to use your product/service
Note:
1. Value proposition should not be confused with product features.
2. Also, there should not be a disconnect between “What are the services that are offered?” and “What are the services for which a customer would pay?”
3. Your customers should be dependent on your product/service for doing a particular thing. Ideally, this particular will define your value proposition.
4. Get this value proposition right irrespective of the time and effort it demands.
Mission/Vision?
It is great to have mission and vision for a startup. But what is more important is that, you should have a roadmap for next 6 months and next 1 year. This roadmap will have two defined and time bound phases namely product development and customer development/market validation.
Do i need a Business Plan?
Even if i am asked 100 times, my answer will be “No”. And run away from those asking for business plans.It is that either they have no idea of what is takes to build a startup or they will not contribute to your growth in any way.
Why?
Do i need a Business Model?
Now we are talking. But hold your horses.
Without having thought clarity by answering above questions, business model is a tad too early to talk about. Your answers to above questions will serve as a precursor to a simple, realistic and implementable business model.