Before launching a new company initiative, start with the end in mind and work backwards. Test ideas with small experiments first, and hold back resources until concepts are proven. Don't commit large budgets just because something worked elsewhere.
I've had a couple of companies do this and they're working on launching a new thing, or they're launching a brand new company in a new sector and they're finding it really, really difficult to do and to think of in mind. And then they end up making like really expensive mistakes because it made sense and they laid out the plan, but in reality didn't turn out that way. So there's two things that really make a big difference here. First of all is we want to start with the end in mind, right? We know this from Stephen Covey, starting with the end in mind, planning backwards from a future that's ever been, working at what came before and what came before, getting back to the present state of where we are now, and then asking ourselves through that whole planning process what's most likely to go wrong. Now, the last thing we want to do is use bullets before bombshells, as we learned from Jim Collins and others. We want to play some experiments and don't expend all of our resource until we've proven something works. Just because you hear it's worked for a bunch of other companies or stuff. Don't devote most of your marketing budget to that or your development or whatever until you've tested and tweaked it. So hold something back, do little tests, prove out concepts before you pour your heart and soul into it. Don't bet everything right in the beginning.
