Once you know what to look for, you see them everywhere. Groups huddled together cooing and fawning around the helpless little thing in the centre of the crowd. There are grown women and men speaking in strange tongues, encouraging, calling for attention. Taking selfies. You see these groups in banks, hospitals and sometimes even in government buildings. But it’s not a new baby they’re huddled around. It’s the latest, shiny startup. Or your firm’s latest innovation project.

And while it is easy to become enamoured of your latest, new, exciting project or startup, it is important to remember that the thrill you feel at seeing it is not necessarily shared by others. In fact, it’s important that you reframe how you think of it – you need to think of it like an ugly baby.

Why is Ugly Baby thinking important for your startup?

The “build it and they will come” thinking that dominates IT and web development also applies to innovation and startups. Wrapped in our own bubble, we focus on those lovely features – “she looks like his mother”, “look at those powerful coding fingers”, “he’s very smart for his age” – but it’s not the features that bring the crowds. The features only bring family and friends.

And the challenge for any new project is to go beyond these networks. To scale.

Which is why you need a marketing plan.

But like the parents of any newborn, you don’t have the luxury of time. You can’t spend months planning. It’s all hands on deck. So you don’t just need a marketing plan – you need lean marketing and you need it now. Our latest handbook provides you with a proven framework and detailed explanation to guide you quickly through the elements you need to not just create a plan but to execute it. The handbook connects the dots between your lean canvas and the markets you need to reach to be successful.

Remember – build it and they WON’T come. Give them a reason and they will.

Download the lean marketing plan today and you’ll cut down on all those sleepless nights.