If you want to quickly see your prototype up and running, you will need to use strategic thinking. Here is how to turn your idea into a working model in the shortest possible time.

🧬 Essential features: Research products like yours to find out which features are essential and which ones can be omitted.

🛸 Adopt established frameworks: You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Build your infrastructure quickly with existing frameworks and boilerplates. 

🧨 Ship in small batches: Don’t make a solution to a problem that takes a year to build. Implement a solution online as soon as possible, with as few features as possible. Cut the fat.

🛼 Clear roadmap and milestones: A clear roadmap will help you avoid common errors like mismanagement and delays. When a roadmap isn’t clear to your team, they might panic or lack motivation. One way to achieve a clear roadmap is with Scrum or Kanban. Map out your bottlenecks, draw a capability map and create a pull flow system. Also, hire a Product Owner.

👀 Get sales started early: you need to start selling before you have a manufacturable product or service so you can test your ability to market and sell. Track your performance at every step – lead and cycle time – and develop all your metrics before you actually commence selling (you might think that is backwards but it’s not). 

🫀 Involve users early: Get users involved early to see how they react so you can pivot and make changes so that your product truly aligns with market needs.