What would be a good way to start a product?

Starting a new product is one of the greatest adventures you can have. And the reason is that the very, very first part of a project like that is to find a problem to solve. Cool thing is that there is no shortage of problems. Your challenge will be to find one that 1) is important and valuable enough to solve 2) that you have a viable solution for and 3) is interesting and fun enough for you to be really dedicated to pursuing it.

Next -- and this is something that a lot of folks forget, ignore, or are unwilling to give it the attention it deserves -- you should start to put together what's called a "Business Plan". A Business Plan is what you, your co-workers, investors and, in some cases, your customer will use to understand what it is you're doing and why it's important enough for them to care.

The first thing a Business Plan covers is a brief description of the problem you're solving or the need you're filling. It should explain why solving it is important, why your solution is correct and valuable, and why now is the right time. You should also describe your market -- i. e., your customers or clients. Howe big is the market? What do you hope to achieve?

Next you'll want to begin describing how your business will work. Who's involved? Who else do you need? What's special about what you're doing and who will also be involved.

You'll likely need investors. You may be using your own money. Maybe relatives or friends' money. You may get outside investors. And to convince other folks to help you out with money or other resources, such as land, people, materials, etc., the Business Plan is usually critical.

A Business Plan also has a timeline. What will you do? When? What are your milestones? What are your financing targets? In other words, how do you measure your success?

You'll start out with a very general Business Plan and add details as you learn more. You may change your mind on some items as you learn more or as conditions change. Remember that you must monitor the conditions of business, what people you'll interact with, and how their needs change. You don't want to do a great job building something that people no longer want or need.

Lastly, you'll need contingency plans. You'll have a lot of details about what you want to do, but you may have to change direction in the middle of things. Or you may even decide that your project should just be cancelled instead of investing more money and time for a purpose that no longer exists.

The good news is that whatever happens, you'll be learning along the way. It's a great adventure. And whatever you learn will come in handy again.