Tips for the Non Tech Entrepreneurs

In a recent project I led, I have had my fair share of trying to find the right development team to create a prototype and final product. Not only did I have to define the scope of the product, I had to determine which technologies were the best. This process led to of course much trial and error. Here are a few tips I discovered that may help you during your initial concept stage.

1. Start with free, off the shelf and open-source. Before you start spending money on concepts, make sure you know your sector and try to find "off the shelf" open-source solutions. You may find that creating proprietary software is less important than focusing on building the right brand by combining existing technologies. If you can't build a prototype in a few weeks then your idea may be too broad ...

2. Don't start something that you can't personally finish. Many entrepreneurs are either in business, marketing or design and not programmers. The only problem is if funding runs out you will be left with an unfinished product. You want a product that you can work on even if you lose your development team. (Or... just make sure you have an incredible amount of funding).

3. Focus on one thing. You've heard this before, the importance of focusing on a revenue model. Entrepreneurs are naturally proactive creative thinkers who see great opportunity - yet I like to think about entrepreneurship like racing... It doesn't only matter that you can go really fast, it matters that you know when to break and make a turn without crashing.

4. Follow the trail. Blazing your own new trail has its pitfalls with unknowns and unmarked signs. You may be best off at looking at what has worked in the past and enhance it. Follow the trail of others, find out what is important to them and the reason they walk that path, and provide them an alternative route to their desired destination. People enjoy variations on a theme so they can pick it up quickly... No one has time to learn a new process (unless you have massive financial backing to test the market intensively).

I am sure you will find your path to be an interesting and exciting ride as I have. Tell me your stories. I'd love to hear them.