Everyone says validate fast. Take pre-orders. Get paid before you build it.

And I get why that sounds right. It feels like the safe move, like you’re being smart.

But here’s the thing about taking money before you’re actually ready: you’re not just proving demand. You’re also creating a deadline.

And if your product has any kind of complicated backend, like bulk inventory, overseas manufacturing, long shipping timelines, you just handed your first customers the ability to make your life miserable.

Mustard Made, the locker brand run by two sisters out of Australia and the UK, figured this out early.

When they went to their first trade show (a big retail trade fair), they didn’t even have a business bank account yet.

And they made a decision: don’t take anyone’s money. Take interest, take names, take excitement, but not the cash.

That’s the thing most people don’t see.

They didn’t do it because they weren’t ready to sell. They did it because they didn’t want to start the business, like they said, “always on the backfoot.”

If you owe customers, you’re already running behind before you’ve shipped a single thing.

So they showed up with samples, watched people’s reactions, and just listened.

And guess what, the interest was so strong they ended up ordering two 40-foot containers instead of one.

They threw their original business plan in the bin at the event because “none of it was big enough.”

Then they borrowed from their dad to cover the stock, paid him back once orders came in, and started the business without that first wave of customers already breathing down their necks.

That is a different kind of launch than what most people do.

I’m not saying this to talk you out of pre-orders entirely.

For something like digital products, a course, a service, that logic doesn’t apply the same way.

But if your business involves physical products, suppliers, lead times, or anything you don’t fully control yet, taking money too soon is how you end up apologizing to strangers at 11pm.

The real move is to know people want your thing before you owe them anything.

So before you open that PayPal or set up a Stripe link, ask yourself: if something goes wrong with the product in the next 60 days, am I okay?

If the answer feels shaky, build a waitlist first.

Let people raise their hand before you take their money.

Cheers,

Minosh

P.S. Orders coming in and no system ready is also a different kind of chaos. Here’s how to pick the right POS before that happens.