What You Need to Know Before You Start a Project

A start up is like a baby. You get so excited to have it. It’s something new and at first, you put all your energy and positive vibes into it, which is good thing. You rush blindly, popularizing the idea, talking about it, until you start. When you start, you stop. You stop to think where all those bright ideas you had disappeared. From our experience as the A team, these are the things we did not know that we probably should have known and it applies to many from research.

1. It is not easy

This is probably the most obvious one but a lot of people forget. You have to sit down, think, consider a lot of things and most importantly, write everything down.

2. Finances

Funding is very important especially if your project needs a boost as big as ours. It is important to never underestimate the cost of starting up. This can mess you up.  You should also consider various ways of funding such as self-funding, crowd funding through sites such as Cheetah Fund, Kickstarter and Indiegogo. You could also consider loans, grants and competitions. For us, our kick-starter came from Innovate Kenya though we have had to look further. Another important rule is: Do not start spending until you have everything certain.

3. Publicity

Getting to know your target audience and advertising your product is also important so that you know how many people will need it.

4. Schedules fail. Plans fail

Many times, you will give yourself deadlines and they might fail and you may give up. You need to know that plans fail. As a team, we failed so many times that we learnt a new method of measuring progress. We now measure progress not by deadlines but by how much time we spend working on it.

5. Structure is important

Whatever you do, structure is important. You may come up with an idea as a group. Not everyone can run everything though. Assigning yourselves roles is very important, however small the group.

6. Your idea will change.

Many successful start-ups will tell you what they have now is not what they had in mind. As the A team, we had envisioned a moving device that not only stops poaching but wildfires too. We then decided to have a passive infrared sensor surveillance system that fights poaching. Then I decided to sell the team on an idea to use chemical detection instead because of the failures the first idea had. They bought it for a week before they came to their senses and told me “No!” Now we are working on an improved passive infrared surveillance system incorporated with insulation badges. We did not fail to achieve our first goal. We evolved.

7. Have a name

A name, trademark, website, business card is important. Do not wait for people to praise you and talk about you. Start it yourself.

By Tracy Wankio.