Before you build: the first-version checklist
Ten things to settle before you pay anyone to build your product. Work through them in order; most take minutes, and each one removes a common and expensive mistake.
- Name five real people who would use it
Not a market, five names. If you cannot, spend a week talking to prospects before spending anything on building.
- Write its job in one sentence
"It lets [who] do [what] without [the current pain]." If it takes two sentences, it is two products.
- List every feature, then cross out what that sentence does not need
What survives is version one. Keep the crossed-out list; it is your roadmap.
- Decide the number that means it worked
Sign-ups, orders, hours saved. Pick one before you start, or you will never know.
- Check whether an existing tool already does most of it
If something off the shelf covers 80%, start there and build only the missing part.
- Set a budget and a deadline for version one first
Decide them before you ask for quotes, and say them out loud. A good builder designs to fit.
- Ask every developer what they would leave out
Someone who only adds to your list is selling hours. The one who removes things is thinking about your money.
- Get ownership in writing
Code, domain name, hosting, app-store accounts and data, all in your company's name from the first day.
- Ask who looks after it after launch, and what that costs
Software needs care every month. A quote that ends on launch day is half a quote.
- Plan how the first ten customers will arrive
Do it before the build ends. A finished product with no first users is the most common outcome of all.
Want a second pair of eyes on your answers? Thirty minutes with a senior engineer, free, and you leave with a written plan.
Book your free review →From Wope, the tech team for businesses that do not have one. wope.ai