A step-by-step checklist covering all 3 phases of pre-launch: research & validation, MVP & customer validation, and setup & launch prep.
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| ✓ | # | Task | Tip | Weeks | Owner | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 — research & validation | |||||||
| 1 | Conduct market research for the product or service | Use AI but validate with industry experts. Focus on market size, growth trend, and top 3 competitors. | |||||
| 2 | Conduct your and your team's SWOT analysis | Understand "why I/we can be successful." | |||||
| 3 | Identify your target customer segment and buyer persona | Be specific — "women 25–40 who shop on Amazon" beats "everyone." | |||||
| 4 | Build unit economics model | For mature-stage profitability planning. See CA004 — Unit economics calculator (coming soon) | |||||
| 5 | Conduct a deep-dive 5-year P&L and cash flow projection | For small biz, cashflow is #1 critical. | |||||
| 6 | 🚩 Go / No-Go gate 1 No-go = financially too hard to be profitable within the target time frame and investment. | ||||||
| Phase 2 — MVP & customer validation | |||||||
| 7 | Develop your MVP product or service | Use the MVP to collect long-term cost assumptions. Speed of learning matters more than polish. | |||||
| 8 | Conduct voice of customer survey | Both survey and with real product. See CK003 — Voice of customer (coming soon) | |||||
| 9 | Analyze VOC results and identify top 3 product/service adjustments | Prioritize changes with highest impact on willingness to pay. | |||||
| 10 | Finalize launch-ready product/service design | Collect final cost data from supplier before locking design. | |||||
| 11 | Set product/service prices and sales & marketing strategy | Price anchoring matters — know your competitors' price points before setting yours. | |||||
| 12 | Redo the financial P&L and cashflow projection | With revised & validated costs, expenses, and revenue projections. | |||||
| 13 | 🚩 Go / No-Go gate 2 No-go = MVP and VOC assumptions do not support positive cashflow within target time/budget. | ||||||
| Phase 3 — setup & launch prep | |||||||
| 14 | Pick a legal structure and register the entity | See CK004 — Company & brand setup (coming soon) | |||||
| 15 | Secure launch-phase service providers | Legal, accounting, compensation, logistics, etc. | |||||
| 16 | Set up core business systems (accounting, inventory, comms) | See CK005 — Set up your back office (coming soon) | |||||
| 17 | Build website and start soft marketing | Soft marketing = SEO, social presence, email list — not paid ads yet. | |||||
| 18 | Build launch playbook and timeline | See CK006 — Launch playbook (coming soon) | |||||
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