The most effective way to deliver your start-up is to set it up as a project. Running your start-up as a project is not the same as running a typical project.

1. Define your Minimum Viable Audience (MVA)
   Who is your project for? Write it down. As specific as possible – creating characters if it helps. So if your product is for event planners create profiles for the event planners you’re trying to target. Be as specific as possible – event planners is too broad so get as narrow as possible.
   This product is for Rosie. Rosie is 33, a freelance event planner based in NYC. Rosie manages event budgets from 10k-30k and plans 15 events per year. Her primary social media channels are Instagram (posts 5 times a week) and Twitter.
2. Define your Unique Selling Point (USP)
   Be really specific – try to get it down to a single sentence. Make it as clear as possible.
3. Begin with the end in mind
   Start-ups are incredibly tricky – there are so many ideas and tasks, you’ve so much to do. The only way to be sure you’ll deliver is to set out very clearly at the start what you’re going to deliver. Be as specific as possible. Map out the critical pieces. Once you’ve finished the detail and are clear, do a one page slide in plain English explaining exactly what you’re going to deliver and when – this becomes a critical document for the project to keep you focused on delivery.
4. Prepare a list of critical milestones
   Detailed planning is very difficult to do for a start-up. Setting out a list of 10-14 critical milestones is an effective way to create a roadmap of the required steps to complete the project. Milestones are specific pieces of work you need to complete along the way to project delivery. Make sure your milestones are in plain English with challenging but realistic dates. Commit to hitting every single date.
5. Prepare a list of key items you need to deliver
   This is called the “long list”. Create a list of every item you need to deliver. Ideally these should be listed under each critical milestone. This helps focus and also helps you feel you’re making progress as you start ticking them off the list.

That’s a list of the key things you need to start – a general rule of thumb is, don’t spend longer than a week on this. Be as concise as possible. If you have any comments or suggestions, please add them below.