"What's the best strategy to get from having no startup to having one that provides you with income?"
I would argue that the answer to this question is to enter a market that has already been verified for you.
In the start-up community there seems to be a huge emphasis on seeking out and creating new markets and business models. While this is a fantastic thing, it is in no way a prerequisite for starting a business.
Everyday entrepreneurs the world over start successful businesses in preexisting markets. If you're a developer looking to start a business, you don't need to verify a market for mobile application development, you know it exists. The only barrier is your skill level and ability to attract clients.
I know this stuff is obvious, but I think the notion of validating markets has become overemphasized in the start-up community. There are plenty of opportunities where much of that leg work has already been done.
That's not a bad angle, and in fact to minimise the risk, a services business may be a good idea. However, services businesses come with their own bundles of problems, not the least of which being that you're still caught in the "sell your time for money" trap which stops you from doing other things. It's better than a job, but not as good as building a product.
I think in all cases where you're building a product, whether it's competing with existing products (better), or an entirely new thing (worse), there is some amount of market validation to do. Does anyone want your "accounting software with this extra feature"? Will anyone care about your "Basecamp but with a different look"?
Best to validate those before sinking lots of dev effort in them...
I would argue that the answer to this question is to enter a market that has already been verified for you.
In the start-up community there seems to be a huge emphasis on seeking out and creating new markets and business models. While this is a fantastic thing, it is in no way a prerequisite for starting a business.
Everyday entrepreneurs the world over start successful businesses in preexisting markets. If you're a developer looking to start a business, you don't need to verify a market for mobile application development, you know it exists. The only barrier is your skill level and ability to attract clients.
I know this stuff is obvious, but I think the notion of validating markets has become overemphasized in the start-up community. There are plenty of opportunities where much of that leg work has already been done.