Build a Tiny First Version — and Let It Be Enough

Why “Big” Can Break You

When you first map out your course idea, it’s easy to imagine a massive, everything-included program.
Every lesson you’ve ever thought of. Every bonus. Every format.

Sounds exciting — until you try to build it. That’s when overwhelm sets in, and instead of launching, you stall.

Here’s the truth: your first version doesn’t have to be huge. It just has to work.

The Minimum Viable Course
Think of your course like a test flight. You don’t need the luxury plane with leather seats and a full menu — you just need something that takes off, flies, and lands safely.

Your minimum viable course has:

• One clear promise → The result they’ll get if they follow through.

• One core lesson → The single thing they need most to get started.

• One group of people → A focused audience who share the same need.

This tiny version gets your idea out into the world without drowning you in production work.

Why Small Works Better at First

• You can launch faster — and start helping people now.

• You get feedback early — before you build a giant course around untested assumptions.

• You prove the concept — so you know it’s worth expanding.

Big courses can take months to build and even longer to sell. A small course can be live in weeks.

What a Tiny Version Can Look Like

• One 90-minute live workshop you record and reuse

• A short video series with three focused lessons

• A single PDF guide with one action plan

• A small group session where you walk people through one skill

These formats are light enough to create without burning out — but valuable enough to make a real impact.

Let “Enough” Be Enough
The point of a first version isn’t to include everything. It’s to deliver something that actually works for your people. Once it’s live, you can grow it, refine it, and add more layers.

But you can’t improve something that doesn’t exist.

The Bottom Line

Shrink your first version until it feels almost too small — then launch it. The value comes from the result you deliver, not the number of modules you pack in.