10 Principles to follow before you dive into your business idea.

You have a business idea, but don't know where to start? Use this FREE template to help you.

First Principles Thinking teaches us to dig into the fundamental truths of a problem before creating solutions. We can use this thinking when diving into a new project or business idea. Researching the topics below will help you unpack your strategy when joining a project.

Read through these principles and find a FREE template document you can use to guide your research here

1. Understand State of Project
What is the current state of your idea? Have you or someone else done work on it? Is there a pitch deck? Who are your stakeholders?

2. Understand your industry
Product Management can span many different fields and industries. It's important to understand the landscape of your industry. Research what problems are currently being solved or what opportunities are busy being exploited in that market.

 3.  Understand the tech
This does not mean you need to know how to code, but if you can understand the tech currently being used, it will give you a window into the opportunities you can tap into.

4.  Understand your potential users
This goes without saying. Before you jump into your App idea, make sure you have a good understanding of potential users and customers of your product. User interviews, persona mapping, etc, are super helpful.

5 Understand your competition
Get to know who is out there already and the ones who tried and failed. Not every opportunity is worth pursuing. Knowing what has come and gone before you, or the ones you'll be up against will help paint the picture of where you could be headed.

6. . Understand your vision
Whether it's a new product or within an existing business, understand the vision. Get to know all the stakeholders and what their expectations are. The more you understand the above points, the better you can create your vision.

7. Understand your budget
If your project is for a mature business, then lucky you. If not, building new products is expensive. Make sure you understand the scope and time expectations. This will influence your budget and the quality of your product.

8. Understand your team
8.1 Once you understand the vision, get to know the people who are going to help you realise that vision. Their personalities, skills, motivations and ambitions. Build rapport and make sure there is a shared understanding of the vision.
8.2 If you're building a team, your budget can go a long way by building a cross-functional team that covers the basics on design, building, testing and maintaining your product.

 9Understand your ways of work
Too often teams jump into the work without understanding WHAT and HOW. Get a working agreement started with your team asap and define roles and responsibilities so that everyone knows the requirements and expectations before just jumping in.

10 Understand your metrics.
Do you have data to back your idea up? Or do you know what kind of metrics you are looking to use to know your idea is working? 
 

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