Before you even start getting the ingredients ready, preheating the oven, or greasing the pans, you need to know what it is that you are going to bake, who it is for, when it is due. This is the same as a project. You need to understand what it is that you will be implementing, who the stakeholders are, and when it will go live. Once you have that picture in your mind, then you can start with the preparation.