You may have proprietary intellectual property and/or a better way of handling a difficult problem—one that someone will pay you to solve. Especially if you’re seeking investors in your early stages, you’ll find that there’s more to launching a new venture than having these assets in place.

Ask yourself:

What level of demand exists for what you have to offer?  How many competitors are there already focused on meeting this demand and how powerful are they?  Should and can you pursue a multi-channel strategy?

What niche can you use as a wedge into the market and expand from there into related markets?

How focused can you afford to be at this early stage in terms of attracting funders but also developing early versions of a marketable product?

If you have co-founders, are you aligned on the scope and pace of the work you’re doing and how you’re doing it? If not, what needs to change to get everyone on the same page?

What kind of company do you want to build and what role do you want to play as founder in the short and longer term? What strengths do you need around you to ensure that you can manage growth and anticipate and respond to inevitable challenges?

Based on the opportunity and scope of operation, what capital structure is needed now and how will this change over the coming months and years?  How strong is your funding pipeline to meet these expectations?