How to Become an Entrepreneur Make something better (or cheaper) than what's out there

6. Start with a minimum viable product (MVP).
An MVP is the simplest, most basic version of your tool or service possible. It's functional enough to satisfy early customers and get a sense of what you should improve.
Let's say you want to build an app that will connect college students with virtual tutors. You might create a bare-bones version, manually invite 150 tutors you found online to join, and then post the link to the app on the local university's Facebook page. If you get a decent number of sign-ups, that's a sign you should move forward. If you get barely any, you should either rethink the idea or start fresh.
Starting small with an MVP keeps your costs low to start but allows room for growth as the product continues to be validated.
7. Create a business plan.
A business plan is a formalized document that details your business goals and the steps you'll take to achieve them. This may include marketing strategy, budget, and financial projections and milestones.
As an entrepreneur, your job is to set your company's mission, vision, and long-term and short-term goals. As you do this kind of strategic planning for your venture, the business plan is an output of your work and helps to guide the growth of your startup.
8. Continue to iterate based on feedback.
Keep in mind that your MVP will not likely be enough to stay competitive in the market categories you choose, especially if you have big dreams for your startup.
Now comes the cycle: Generating interest and demand (marketing the product), securing customers (selling the product), gauging satisfaction, improving the product based on feedback... and repeat.
Optimizing all parts of this flywheel generates the revenue needed to invest in product, and investing in product generates additional interest from:

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  Satisfied customers creating word of mouth referrals
  
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  More competitive offerings that attract new customers