Strategy Handbook

This is a one-page handbook for finding, validating, executing, and scaling a business idea. The content in the handbook is combination of advice from some of the most successful founders, as well as lessons from our own experience, all rolled up into a bite-size handbook you can quickly refer to.

Each business idea should start by identifying a problem, frustration, or inefficiency you can solve. Methods include:

• Reflection habit: Reflect each day on the problems you experience in day to day life and note them all down.
• Category Breakdown: List every project, hobby, or activity you do and identify any associated problems.
• Community Breakdown: Identify the problems people talk about in the communities you’re a part of (online/offline).
• Conscious Observation: Actively spot and question problems when they occur. It helps to question why things are done the way they are.
• Wish existed: Is there something you wish you had? Something you wish existed in the world? (it should frustrate you that is doesn’t).

Once you've identified a problem, brainstorm solutions, ideally something you wish existed in the world that provides real value. Populate the following, these are the fundamentals of your idea:

• Problem - Explain the problem, pains, and identify the target customer/market.
• Solution - How you will solve the problem (e.g. the process and technology) + value proposition and USP.
• Monetisation - Identify the business model you will use and how the economics will work.
• Distribution - Identify the viable traction channels for you idea, as not every channel will be suitable (if you need help with this, refer to the traction channels section in our marketing handbook).

Once you have the fundamentals of an idea, research the following to ensure it’s worth pursuing:

• Vetting - Search whether the problem exists and if the solution has strong value prop (e.g. are people expressing the problem, and if it was solved would it save them time, stress, or money. You can do this by speaking to your target market.
• Competitors - Search whether there are any existing competitors, if so, can you differentiate, and is there still a market?
• Potential Pitfalls - Go through each stage of building the idea, is it feasible within your resources (e.g. time or capital), and skillset (design, development, marketing, operations).
• Personal Checklist - Ensure the idea excites you, you can get clear feedback from your target audience, and it’s possible to build.

Determine whether the problem exists, and if it's painful enough to pay to solve. If you are your own customer, this helps. To validate:

• Research - Look for people talking about the problem online and expressing pain
• Ask - Either reach out to people, or create posts in communities asking about the problem and their experience with the problem.

Determine whether the solution actually solves the problem, and if people are willing to pay for it. To validate:

• Research - Look if people are already paying for a solution, or if if they are looking for one.
• Ask - Don’t pitch your idea, instead ask questions about what your target market are currently doing to solve the issue. Have they thought about a solution similar to yours? What do they think of that as a solution?
• MVP (1) - Present a dummy solution to gauge feedback (capture website). This can be a simple landing page with mockups that speaks directly to your target market, highlights the problem, showcases the solution, and details the value proposition to them. Try to use something like an email capture to gauge interest.
• MVP (2) - Present a solution with limited core functionality (simple solution), this can also be combined with the above. This is an actual product, but it should have only the core functionality needed to solve the problem and provide the key value proposition to the user (e.g. save them time). Get this in the hands of your target market to learn whether it solves their problem and whether they’d pay for it.

If you need support with this, including creating a brand, designing a website and web app, as well as building the web app, these are services we offer fellow founders,see if this is for you here

The aim here is to gain your first 100 users and optimise for learning, meaning you use the insights you gain from these users to tweak your product until you reach product-market fit, meaning the market wants the product you’re offering and is willing to pay for it. To gain these 100 users you’ll likely want to focus on channels that don’t scale, such as:

• Speaking in communities (where your target market hang out online/offline).
• Directly messaging/speaking to your target market (you’re looking to find people that express the problem you’re solving).
• Paid marketing channels (run tests where you can target your audience, and measure how different positioning).

Again, if you’re looking for additional information around marketing, checkout ourMarketing Handbook- it may be of value.

Once you have a solution, begin developing your marketing system and working on the viable traction channels. To gain traction:

• Launch - Once you know for certain that the product you have is providing value to your target market, and you’re able to position it correctly, a great method for bringing in users is to launch big. You can launch across the internet in the circles your target market hangs out.
• Channels - Expand into your sustainable traction channels (e.g. Ads, SEO, Sales). If you need help with this, refer to our marketing handbook.

If you've validated problem-solution fit, product-market fit, and traction-channel fit. Scale by:

• Automating - Automate functions to save time, or expand operations.
• Outsourcing - Outsource functions to save time, or expand operations.
• Developing - Develop existing traction channels, or product features.
• Expanding - Expand into into new traction channels, or product offerings.

And with that, you should have a multi-national conglomerate of a business in no time. Well, that part might take some time, but hopefully this guide acts as a guiding light for you and the direction of your business.

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