Treat these notes as the starting point for planning your project - it is a good idea to talk it over with your local advisors too.

The first step is to identify what you want to do, why you want to do it and who will do it.

Project environment

• Identify who will benefit from this project.
• Identify what they want.
• Identify whether you are able to provide what they want.
• If you can't provide all they want, how will you decide what to provide?
• Identify any competition and what this will mean for your project.
• Check whether a similar project has been done before or if it still exists.
• Check that there is support for your project.
   

Resources

• Divide the project into sections and stages.
• Identify the skills required to work on each section of the project.
• Identify who has the skills or how you will access the skills required for this project.
• Identify the human resource needs for each section of the project.
• Identify your support/advisory team.
• Identify the other resources required.
   

Funding

• Prepare a budget for the project.
• Identify the overruns that might arise and the cashflow projections and requirements.
• Identify likely sources of funding for the project and whether you will go ahead in full or in part if the funding isn't adequate for the full project.
  
   

Timeline

• Prepare the timeline for:

          each stage of the project
          within each stage

• Consider what it will mean if you don't meet the deadline or if you finish early.
  
   

Reporting

• Identify your accountability requirements including how and how often.
• Prepare a reviewing process and a timeline for reviewing.
• Identify who you need to communicate with and how this is best achieved.
• Identify how you will promote / market the completed project and whether there will be a launch.