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Deployment in this context denotes launching your product – to set it in motion – like a ball rolling OR a common one like launching a rocket into space, it is constructed and released to commission into space for exploration of a planet. I hope this links to something close to understanding. Launching will be used being a more acceptable word. In product context, it means to bring a product/service to market for consumption. Some call it “go live”, some say “take/go to market” and many more terms in the business environment. Product Ideation and Validation are preparatory processes that lead to launching a product. The ultimate goal is to take your product to the final consumer. This originates from an idea you have validated to reduce flip-flops in launching the product. We have discussed that in the past episodes of this series. The following short tips might be helpful to launching your product/service when it is due for consumption by your target market. And lest I forget...

We looked at ideation in the last episode and need to look at validation in this episode. As simple as it sounds, it is a way you validate your idea. How will it be perceived by your target market/audience? Will it be accepted or rejected? Is there a thing that fits to only you? We may say it is about sharing it with people to know how they perceive it and get feedback to make it better or even drop it to spring up another idea. Sometimes, an idea may be entirely new   —   trying to introduce what does not exist in the market. It could be an effort to make a product or service better. It could be in a bid to make some processes easier for users. It could even be to prove possibility of an impossibility. What you need to have in mind always is -a solution and how to arrive at it. At validation stage of a product or service, you test and validate your idea prior to launching your product/service. Your idea at this stage is exposed to an audience before the final release. It may le...

Product! Product! Product! It could actually be a service. But one may ask what the difference is between the two. Okay! Briefly, a product is that thing designed and developed as tangible, homogenous and can be stored for later and can be owned. Service can only be used for the time you want to use it, intangible, heterogeneous and not owned by its user. Okay let’s use a vehicle analogy to understand it better. Look at a car as product and taxying as a service. Hope you got that? This write up series is meant to guide to some little extent on some considerations when designing a product or a service for mass consumption. My advice before we go further is “always design to solve problem, money will come later”. You may not earn in the few early days which may run into months up to a year in some cases, rather you end up spending some resources during that period. However, designing the right product/service for the right consumer is the ultimate goal in designing a product. S...

For every startup, funding is a vital ingredient to growth. Although you may not need to have big cash to start well, your big idea is required. As your startup grows, you will definitely require cash at some point to fund some processes, procedures or anything catalyst that could speed up or fine tune growth. It could be logistics, acquisition of tools of trade, hiring a techie or some specialist(s), value addition to your products/service and many other reasons as may apply. Well, thanks to technology and creativity that surround us especially those instrumental strategic pushing of funding to end users. The major practices we’re used to are the business funding all the way to production and having to recoup their investment only when they are lucky to sell. The risk involved is higher in that model actually. For some startups, strategies have evolved where you find most of the investment come as labour and dedicated time developing the products and services. Cash...