IT Business Start up Guide
By Larry Battle
The following are 10 simple steps that you can take to successfully turn your idea into a marketable product or service. This guide is more geared to software startups.
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Create a Business Plan & Product Document
Construct a product or service that solves a problem.
Verify with others that the product or service is marketable.
Or find at least 3 potential customers willing to buy your product or service.
Note that you need to involve at least one customer throughout the entire start up process.
Process: Develop a document that describes the following information.- Your product or service
- Audience / Marketplace
- Competition
- Schedule with deadlines
- Financial Projections
- Startup cost
- Business Plan (How are you going to make money?)
- Market and Sells Strategy
- Limitations
- Team Members
- Exit Plan
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Create a Requirements Document
Define what your product or service does, what it come with and how you’re going to make the customer happy.
Process: Develop a document that contains the following information.- Product Name
- Deliverables (what is it you’re making)
- Customer Requirements (What are the customer wants)
- Functional Requirements (What are the functionalities)
- Environment / System Requirements (What will this work with)
- External components
- Diagrams for Overview, Software and /or hardware
- Hardware components
- Limitations
- Assumptions
- Team Roles
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Create a Architecture Document
This documents converts the requirement/product/services into simple abstract layers.
Process: Develop a document that contains the following information.- Programming Language / Framework / Software Used
- Layers
- Customer Requirements to Layers Matrix
- Diagrams of Layers and Data Flow
- Simple Data flow
- Use Cases
- Simple GUI Mock-up
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Create a Detailed Design Document
This document will discuss the sub-layers within the layers and define data-flow between them.
Process: Develop a document that contains the following information.- Layers
- Sub-layers
- Diagrams of Layers, sub-layers and Data Flow
- Data Flow Definitions
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Create a Test Plan Document
Create Test cases.
Process: Develop a document that contains the following information.- System Test Plan
- Integration Test Plan
- Unit Tests Plan
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Develop a working prototype of your Product or Service
Develop a prototype of the working system.
I prefer to use test driven development (TDD).
TDD steps are to Write a test case, watch it fail, program it to pass, re-factor. -
Convert your product from beta to a final product / service
Work with beta testers and customers to improve your product / service to a final working product or service.
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Perform System Verification
Check to see if the system works and have fulfilled all the requirements. -
Get ready for release
Create the following items- Product/Service Packaging
- License and warranty
- Support information
- Company website release page
- Demo setup
- Payment System
- User guide and other documentation
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Release and start marketing
Release to the public, market the product/service and rake in the cash.
You can do stuff like …- Video Demonstrations
- Buy Ads
- Press Release
- Attention getting stunts
Done.
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