The most important resource in an election campaign is time—especially the time of the top candidate—because it is severely limited and can never be recovered once lost. Here are three things every candidate should do early on:

Write a campaign plan.
Campaigns are chaotic, and once they are in full swing, having a plan helps manage the chaos. If you don’t create one early, you likely won’t do it later, and your campaign will end up as a scattered effort, constantly reacting to daily news and losing focus—setting yourself up for disaster.

Neutralize weaknesses.
Every candidate has weaknesses, but smart ones address them. I’ve worked with candidates who were considered too young or too old, too far left or too far right, too dogmatic, too religious—you name it. My working hypothesis is that every weakness can be neutralized, but you need a plan and a series of strategic measures to do so. You must start doing this early, as changing public perception takes more time than defining it in the first place.

Raise money.
While I believe that money is often overestimated (as I discuss in other videos), it remains a key factor in running an effective campaign. As the saying goes, early money is like yeast—it makes the dough rise. Early funds help you raise more money later and allow you to keep going even when you’re not polling well. While most candidates dislike fundraising, doing it early is crucial.

PS: I’m planning two webinars later this year, one is on campaign strategy and the other one on campaign skills as a candidate. This weekend, the discounts for early bird registrations will end. You can check it out here.