"Product or Plan" - June 5, 2007

I keep giving myself headaches whenever I logistically try to plan out how this start-up is going to work. On one side of the spectrum I have to develop a business plan and operations model, and on the other side, I have to actually finalize the product and manufacturing process.

I am struggling with trying to decide where I focus my energy first…should I work on the product or the plan?

If I only focus on the plan, then I will begin to gain understanding about what the company is going to be about, how it will operate, how it will go to market, and what audience it is going to target. However, I will then be stuck trying to create products that only fit the goals of the company.

If I only focus on product development, I will understand how the manufacturing process should work and how to create finished products, but I will have no idea how to market the product.

Based on this stream of consciousness I’ve got going, I have some ideas, and I think that I am going to have to tackle both the product and plan at the same time. However, I first need to develop a rough draft for the plan as soon as possible, so that I can coordinate company and brand development exercises, both of which will take more time than the manufacturing.

I am setting a goal to have a plan written at the end of June. Stay tuned.