Your Project’s Stage vs. Your Stage as an Entrepreneur…. What’s the difference?
Just because you put your heart and soul into something doesn’t make it identical to you. And that’s a good thing.
As an entrepreneur, your project can feel like it’s a part of you. So much of your life revolves around your project so it may feel like you and your project are one and the same.
It doesn’t have to be.
Your project could possibly shoot past your own stage as an entrepreneur and develop much faster than you do. You might still be at the learning stages of growing your venture, while your project grows faster than expected. How do you identify what stage you’re in and what stage your project is in? What are the different stages your venture can be at?
Your Project Stage
Even though the subject is still discussed within the ecosystem, people usually agree that startup stages can be divided into four stages:
1. Idea / Proof of Concept (POC)
This is the beginning stages. If you’ve identified a problem you want to solve, and have come up with what you think is a good solution to that problem… Congratulations, your project is currently an idea!
You haven’t tried to prototype your idea yet. You’re probably still trying to figure out who your target market is, and what they’re looking for in a product. At this point, you’re just emotionally invested in your project, but you’re trying to figure out what the next step is.
Do you look for more market information? Are people going to be interested in the solution you offer? Should you start developing your product? How? Is this a viable business idea? Should you invest more time and effort into this idea? Here are some questions you’ll find yourself asking at the idea/concept stage.
2. Project or Minimum Viable Product
Your project is slowly growing. You have a better idea of what exactly your solution is and what people think of your idea. You’ve proven the need for what you have to offer through customer discovery (interviews, focus groups, surveys, prototype evaluation…. I highly recommend this guide on the topic).
You probably even have a basic version of your product or service (or at least plan on how to make one). You’re ready to have people test out your idea. This is when you’re considering Beta-Testing (for software solutions) or Market-Testing (for non-software solutions) your product. Your MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is a version of your product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and to provide feedback for future development, it’s the basis of any company.
But where do you go from here? You’re probably wondering how to transform your product into a real, scalable business. What are the next steps to creating my business?
3. Start-Up / Small Business
Congratulations! You put your MVP into the hands of users and tested it. You’ve started selling your product and maybe even have a flow of customers by now! At this point, you’ve probably invested time and money into developing your product.
It seems like you’re on the cusp of propelling your product to greatness. You might start to plan a crowdfunding campaign, look for grants or for seed investment to bridge the period between now and a bigger go-to-market. You probably need to pay for your first employees or improve your product.
What’s the next step in order to gain new customers? In what direction do I take my product? What’s the 2.0 version of it?
4. Scale Up / Growth
By now, you should have developed a couple of versions of your product or service. You’ve worked out most of the kinks, and now you’re actively searching for investment, or more clients if you’re lucky enough to already be viable.
You’ve maybe completed an initial round of funding, and now you’re looking for bigger fish to invest in your company. You’re slowly expanding your team to encompass various departments and you’re reaching more customers than you thought possible!
Keep listening to them as much as before and taking into account their feedback, the best company never stop innovating and providing a better product or experience.
Your Entrepreneurial Mindset
This is where you, as an entrepreneur and founder, have to evaluate how you feel. This is where you identify how comfortable you are with running a business. Here are the various states of mind in which an entrepreneur can be.
1. I have an idea
This is the earliest stage! You’ve discovered a problem about which you’re passionate and you’ve even come up with an idea on how to solve it. But what comes next? Is my idea a good one? Can it survive in the market? Who are my closest competitors? Should I continue with this project?
It’s a time fraught with doubt, and confusion, but also excitement! You really think that this idea could be fruitful.
2. I am confident about developing my project
This is where you are once you’ve developed a solution that you think can be profitable. You know that you’re ready to commit and give your all in order to make your project work. But where do you go from here? How do I work on my project? What do I need to do in order to succeed? Who would my customers be?
3. I have a young business
You’ve developed your project and you’ve even started taking it to market! You’re slowly finding your stride as an entrepreneur. However, you’re starting to notice smaller, more niche problems. How do I market this product? How should I expand my business? What’s my financial viability? How do I find investment?
As you can see there’s a lot of phases that both projects and entrepreneurs experience, and they each come with concerns and questions. It’s not easy to accomplish on your own. If your project is in stage 1–3, you might want to surround yourself with people that have been through the same path as you are, advisors and professionals in company creation: look for them in coworking spaces, incubators, accelerators, entrepreneurship meetups in your city…
This article has been written for Bridge for Billions, as part of a series to help early-stage entrepreneurs get started with their projects and change the world. Bridge for Billion is an online incubation platform that matches entrepreneurs with qualified mentors. We guide entrepreneurs through the process of developing their business idea into a structured business plan through our 8 business tools.
