12 Steps to Preparing for a Successful Launch

Excerpt from BusinessWeek article: 12 Steps to Preparing for a Successful Launch

1. We wrote the business plan in order to clarify our vision. We wrote our funding pitch in a PowerPoint presentation and our first year's budget in an Excel spreadsheet. We created a formula-based dynamic model so we could plug in numbers for different "what if" scenarios (what if our expenses were higher, what if our revenue were lower, etc.).

2. We mocked up our Web pages so others could visualize how our site would work and how consumers, retailers, manufacturers would interact with it. Always do this. Many people you'll pitch to will be visual.

3. We designed the architecture so others could visualize how we'd do certain product functions such as data analysis and data mining. Providing a schematic of the backend architecture helped boost our credibility with the potential client's information technology teams that would have to interface with our backend.

4. We got our first round of funding! We sold 33% percent of our company for 18 months' worth of operational cash.

5. We hired key staff: a VP of engineering, a VP of Sales, and a VP of marketing because this company was very engineering- and sales-intensive. We needed to have a solid architecture and we needed to get started on the incredibly long sales cycle for retailers and manufacturers.

Marketing worked on collateral—sales support material like brochures and data sheets—while the sales folks hung out with potential customers and asked for their suggestions on our product design. This helped get the potential customers more emotionally engaged in our success and increased their likelihood of buying a system they had helped design.

6. We secured our first customers (both retailers and manufacturers) and Web site strategic alliances. We raised our profile with trade associations and distributed a white paper we had written that illustrated the future of our business: online, targeted promotions. We positioned ourselves as the experts. This is like declaring victory as you're stepping onto the battlefield. Do it!

7. We launched a 90-day beta test.

8. We got our first consumers using the beta system. We gave countless speeches to manufacturers and retailers. Then we cranked up the PR engine and started getting press.

9. As a result of the above, we got more funding.

10. We demonstrated our product's data analysis capabilities to customers. They were wowed, and we were able to up-sell them to a more premium (read: expensive) service.

11. We expanded our customer base. We released a complete Version 1 of the system. We did zillions more speeches. Whew! That was a lot of talking for me and my executive staff! And we got more press.

12. And yep, you guessed it. We got more funding.

So you see, the launch process is cyclical. Each time there is a progression and growth associated with customers and press, more funding follows. You must repeatedly demonstrate growth with each step of the launch process.

Also, you don't need to pay a market research company big bucks to write a report on you. Like the companies Gartner Group, Jupiter, and Aberdeen, there are many reputable and influential (and expensive) groups that can raise the profile of your company.

I prefer gaining credibility from customer case studies, from showing specifically how you are solving problems as opposed to paying someone to write about you. You'll be written up once you've gained traction. So hunker down and get to work! That said, you may need the credibility boost of a research report from a third party if you are selling a six-digit product to enormous enterprises and your executive team doesn't have fabulous accomplishments in their past.