There are some lessons in life that just have to be learned the hard way.
Don’t ever touch a stove to test if it is actually hot. Try once, you’ll learn forever.
Proceed with caution if you get your drink from a huge orange jug that has a skull and bones drawn on it (that lesson was learned in college–and went from awesome to blackout in about 10 min. Very sketchy).
And always, always, validate an idea before investing time and money to build something.
This last lesson is often-repeated wisdom at this point: get pre-sales before building. Nevertheless, it took the pain of learning the hard way for me to internalize the lesson. This is after about $12k spent building something that may or may not be a total waste of time and money.
It is a pricey lesson indeed, and in the short time frame of a few months, the mistakes along the way are painfully obvious.
Here are a few:
1. Do Thorough Customer Validation
I fell into the trap of confirmation bias. I wanted to start something, and felt urgency to get started on the idea. It was a problem that I experienced, and if I could be a potential customer, then certainly there could be a market. Or so I thought.
I spoke with a handful of people, friends and contacts, to share the idea. “Yeah, that sounds like a great idea….if you can get it to work, I see a need for sure.” A few of those affirmations from people whose opinions I respected, and I was off to the races, sorting through developer profiles to find the ideal candidate to build it.
Why did I feel so confident that this idea would work?
Looking back on these conversations, my conversations blurred the line between informational interviews (listening to what problems these people faced in addressing their customer churn) and pitching them my idea (telling them what I was building, and why). The only catch though, was that my pitch wasn’t really even a pitch; there was no binary answer of Yes/No at the end of the conversation. There was no way to see if in fact this was something that they would pay for. So there were no customers from the start of the project, which leaves me in the position I am in now….with a half-baked product, no validated idea, and no customers. Shit.
2. Software Isn’t The Answer. Find The Easier Path First
Did I really need to build some software solution to help with the customer churn problem? No, not really. Everything could have been done manually, and a roster of clients could have been built up for a long time before any software was necessary to automate the work.
I was misguided into thinking that this needed to be automated from the outset. I should have pursued Rob Walling’s Stairstep approach, finding an easier inroad into getting started with Retainable. I wish I had read this article earlier. And in particular, this sentence: “Specifically, I’m suggesting that you don’t get started with a subscription SAAS model. Recurring revenue is the holy grail for bootstrappers, as we’ll discuss later in this post, but it can also be a major obstacle to making a sale.”
This could be a very specific service, a one time sale, or even some agency-type service. But something just to get initial traction and validation, before moving into software development. And this is even more true for me, a non-technical person, who would have to spend money in order to get it built (or of course a lot of time learning how to write code).
3. But Even Before Customers, Build A Network
One of the subtly dangerous things of a job is the comforts it provides: salary, benefits, and a built-in network. Work diligently, perform well, and add value. That will certainly lead to success at a day job. And I did that.
But in doing so, I neglected to continue building relationships outside of my company. And once outside of the comforts of that job and fully reliant on a brand name and reputation that is starting from scratch, the game is very different.
I didn’t have many people in my network who I could call on for candid advice, to pitch, or to become customers.
What I should have done all along is continue to build friendships and professional relationships in my industry, namely digital marketing and software as a service. I didn’t do that consistently, so now have to start that process now. And creating genuine relationships is something that can not be rushed.
Build an email list. Produce content regularly. Add value.
Again, these are well-worn nuggets of advice that resonate so much more now that I am riding solo.
But these lessons are only increasing in importance and relevance as I continue to move this path forward.
And the other lesson that this all encapsulates is simply this: this shit is hard. I knew that it would be. That is the fun of it. But the constant murmur of self doubt just won’t seem to shut down for a little while. Starting a business is a series of failures, er, learning opportunities, and these are just a few lessons that can hopefully be passed along to save you some time, money, and frustration in the future.
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