Idea, sized.
In context: Stage 01 · Idea
The Idea stage is where a rough idea gets framed, sized and viability-checked before anyone spends real money building it.
Idea is the first of ten stages. You find a real problem, write the idea down in one clear statement, agree what success looks like, run a quick viability check, and right-size how the project will be run. Cheap thinking before expensive doing.
What the Idea stage is
This is where a product starts as a sentence rather than a drawing. The job is to decide whether the idea is worth pursuing at all: is the problem real, can it be described clearly, what would good look like, and does a quick check suggest it can be built and sold without losing money. None of this needs CAD, a prototype or a supplier. It needs honest thinking, and it is the cheapest place in the whole process to change your mind.
When Dan and Anna Hartley came to me with a £149 sourdough proofing box, the idea began here, in Stockport, as a few lines on a page. Before any spend we worked through whether home bakers actually wanted a box that holds 26°C, what it would have to do, and roughly what it could cost to make. That framing is what stopped a vague hunch becoming an expensive guess. The box is the worked example we follow through every stage of this process, picking it up again as each one builds on the last.
What’s in this stage
Five activities take the Idea stage from a hunch to a sized, checked starting point. Work them roughly in order.
How it fits the bigger picture
Idea is the first of ten stages and the foundation everything else stands on. It leads straight into Stage 02 Discover, where the sized idea gets researched against real users, competitors and constraints. A clear, checked idea gives Discover something firm to dig into; a vague one just hands the guesswork forward.
What it can do
It turns a loose idea into a clear, sized starting point: a stated problem, a written idea, an agreed picture of success and a quick read on whether building it stacks up. Done well, it tells you whether to carry on or stop before any money goes out the door.
What it can’t do
It can’t prove the idea will sell or confirm the numbers; that depends on the research and engineering stages that follow. And it can’t make a bad idea good. If the problem isn’t real, no amount of framing will fix it.
See the full 10-stage process →
Try it yourself
Take your own idea and write it as a single paragraph: who it is for, what problem it solves, and one number that would tell you it worked. If you can’t write that paragraph clearly, the idea isn’t sized yet. Then start with the first activity below to work it properly.
Or run the guided version. The Free Sprint covers these early stages end to end. Start the Free Sprint →
— Start here → Find opportunity