Create & Scale | 00. Introduction
Next week we’re launching a series that provides a template for turning an idea into a product and building a business around it.
Think Dr. Frankenstein turning a hollow shell (your idea) into a living breathing thing, but at the end it turns into a real human. So, like a Frankenstein/Pinocchio hybrid, but way less morbid.
Each post in the series will tackle a different step in the process of going the distance from idea to awesome business.
This series is an effort to provide a blueprint for spinning any idea into a business.
Basic? Maybe. But we think it’ll be useful to lots of people who want to take their first (successful) leap with an idea they love.
The idea for this series came out of our frustration with online business advice. There’s a lot of good stuff out there, especially from startup founders for startup founders, but it gets lost in the ocean of listicles and hourly productivity revelations.
In the first installment we’ll create a new company based on the idea of providing a free laundry pick-up and delivery service. From there we’ll develop the idea, test it, iterate as necessary, and get it to market (or kill it and try something else).
We’re keeping it clean and simple from start to finish. Each post will be simple and straightforward with clear examples and proof. In other words, we’ll show our work so readers can easily repeat it.
And we’ll do it all without unnecessary stock photos and filler content for SEO purposes. We’re intentionally using the word “pivot” and other startup/tech/business catch phrases as little as possible.
This series is for traditional owners and startup founders alike. The principles we’ll discuss draw on startup methodology, but mix both approaches and hopefully help traditional business owners think around problems in new ways.
To give you a sense of what we’re doing and what’s to come the outline we used to develop this idea is shared below.
Thank you for reading and let us know what you think (questions, concerns, rants, ideas, etc). See you next week!
work/ethic Create & Scale Series Outline
What
A how-to guide for creating and scaling a business
Why
For love of the game. Also, to help current and prospective business owners and founders do what they do easier and better
How
Writing and sharing a ten part series that walks the reader through turning an idea into a business in a clear, relatable, repeatable way
Desired Outcome
At least one person takes the leap of starting a business around one of their ideas because of and with help from this series
Distribution
Instagram, Medium, and Twitter
Post-By-Post Breakdown
Each number notes a different part and step in the process
- Idea
- Vision
- Idea/Vision → Product
- Testing; Is the product viable? Will people pay for it?
- Launch
- Intense listening and iteration
- Audience exploration and refinement (more iteration)
- Growth experiments; Will the product/company scale gracefully?
- Iteration again— switch it up as many times as necessary
- Keeping the party going
