Once the seed of an idea is there and you have decided more or less to go ahead, the next thing is to give the idea some shape. What we did:
- Read a lot of relevant material (both online and offline)
- Spoke to various people (especially those in relevant industries)
- Gathered information on various products/ services already in market
- Kept abreast of current developments in various industries
- Went for long walks alone (important since you need to collect your thoughts without any disturbance)
After some point you start getting the feel of what the final product or service you intend to offer. Then you can
- Focus on gathering relevant information
- Make a list of features offered
- Note various milestones to achieve
- Set yourself a broad deadline
NOTE that there is no end to the amount of research that you can do. So stop at a logical point and start the next step.
On the personal front:
- make a list of all your commitments (financial, emotional,… everything)
- think of the impact of your decision on them
- decide for yourself whether you are prepared to face any foreseeable hurdles (there will always be unforeseen ones)
Did we do all this? Yes we did – for many months. As a matter of fact, when we quit our jobs our idea was just a seed. All the research happened later.