Myself and 2 partners operate and work in varying roles within the Digital Marketing space. We work both on-site and remotely for small and large companies, we have what we think to be a strong, in-demand idea for a online platform. We are currently stuck on our next steps and looking for guidance. We have been told we need to create an MVP which will require us to either invest own funds in developer groups to create (none of us are talented in the developer to create), seek out a developer founder or establish proof of concept another way. We strongly wish to move our efforts from Melbourne, Australia to USA and we feel the standard of Incubator and Accelerator programs are much higher. We are looking for guidance on the next steps associated with applying for these incubators (we have done a lot of research on each of them specifically, the majority request a MVP/beta version with a couple of customers and tests already occurring). What are best to do to reach this stage?
Likely you won't like my thoughts about this.
When I give talks about business bootstrapping, I suggest people only work ideas which meet my "Sunset Rule".
Sunset Rule - You should be able to go from idea to first sale, before sunset, or best consider other ideas.
This also relates to your MVP. If you can't dream up an MVP + sell it before the sun goes down, best consider other ideas.
Years ago, I was at an Internet Marketing Party mixer in Austin, TX + sat to visit with a friend. She was down because she was starting a new business + had spent months working on a business plan + determined she required $80K to bootstrap her business + then had spent another several months looking for investors.
A buddy of mine + I sat with her for 15mins + slightly retooled her idea. She launched the next day for a one time investment of $144/year (cost of a Meetup.com account) + was generating some significant profit in a few days.
Chunk down your MVP, so you can manually make sales by the end of the day... for $0 investment + you'll know for sure you have a profitable business.
If you can't sell one unit, by the end of the day... best consider some other idea...
Answered 7 years ago
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