Pulling into the fastlane

[EnglandBorn]

Well, thought it would be good to keep an accountability thread going here.

I'm 29, from England originally, but been living in the South of France for nearly 3 years now.

I freelance as a marketing and sales consultant but want to break out into the fastlane.

I've got 2 ideas I'm running with at this point.

Why 2?

Well, the first one is a software business that I've got a paying customer for, but it will take some time and cashflow to get it going, so I'm setting up an information publishing business at the same time that will help bankroll that business.

I'm planning to have the first product up and running for the info pub business in the next 24 hours, just setting up the logistics behind it all (auto-responders and delivery platforms etc.)

Let's see how that goes.

Cheers

 

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[EnglandBorn]

Alrighty then, took a bit longer than expected but all the working parts are in order and time to go live on the information biz.

Will post feedback once I've got the first results through.

The software biz is getting going slowly but shortly. I'm doing everything manually for my first customer at the moment and we should be going live on that project in the next 7-10 days.

Not quite in the desert of desertion, but there is a ton of doubt and worry in my mind about whether either of these will become anything, particularly the software biz. There are a lot of challenges in getting things right even for the first customer and it is a problem that my competitors are facing as well. If I can be the first to solve it then I'm golden.

Gotta brush fear aside and stay in the moment. Step by step, bite by bite.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

The software biz is getting going slowly but shortly.

This sounds more appealing. A slow start is tougher to tackle and keeps copiers/competitors away. The information business? Anyone can do that with an internet connection and a WP install.

Welcome to the forum and thx for the progress thread.

 

[EnglandBorn]

Yep, it's a difficult problem to solve and there are about 2-3 different applications for it in different industries so I can pivot it relatively easily if needs be.

This sounds more appealing. A slow start is tougher to tackle and keeps copiers/competitors away. The information business? Anyone can do that with an internet connection and a WP install.

Welcome to the forum and thx for the progress thread.

 

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[EnglandBorn]

So, I've erased the information product business. Thanks MJ for bringing your thoughts on the subject to my attention.

It's going to divert my time from delving deeper into my choosen market for the software business and as MJ says, the barrier for entry is low.

Plus, and this one is HUGE. The idea came from me because "I" saw a gap in the market. I haven't confirmed the subject with the marketplace and a quick test using FB ads showed that it's not really at product/market fit stage yet and given the fragmented nature of the market it's going to cost me a lot of money just to get to that point.

Long story short, I'd rather use my money on developing software that has a proven market and need.

So, with the software business - I'm talking to customer number 1 tomorrow to finalise how this is going to be implemented. It's a small project at first, but if it works out then it can turn into a bigger one that can be scaled out.

I've also got another phone call arranged with someone else in the same industry to see if they face the same problems. If not, then there will be other problems they will have that I can provide a solution for.

What was worrying me until today was that I wanted to knock it out of the park straight away - i.e. find a problem that I can create a solution for the entire marketplace.

BUT, I've realised that it is likely I will find some problems that are specific to one company and end up creating a solution that won't scale out. And this isn't a bad thing, because it will generate revenue and with enough marketplace engagement I will eventually find a solution that can be scaled out to multiple companies.

It's becoming clear that the only thing I need to start a business is an email address, a skype international call plan and a curious mind.

Funnily enough I used to be an event producer and I created multi-million dollar events using this process of interviewing the target market, extracting problems and creating a solution (in that case it was events and seminars).

Thankfully I've got a lot of experience in this so I know it works and I can get it done.

F*ck knows why I didn't do this before!

Well, I know why - it's the path of least resistance to create a business without talking to people.

It's not particularly fun cranking out the emails and the calls to strangers, but it works. And it's another barrier to entry for others who'd rather just write code, use ads to get customers and sell to a tech giant without having to cold call or do "scary" stuff like that.

Well, I've seen the light and the light looks very promising.

 

[EnglandBorn]

Extremely productive day today so far.

Spoke to my first customer about the technicalities of implementing the system for them and we've ironed out some bugs and questions that were coming up.

I also spoke to them in depth about other problems they have. We've now come up with at least 2 more projects we can work on in the future (and one that is extremely disruptive to their industry) and I've discovered that this first solution seems like I can scale it out to others in their network of 125 other "competitors". I'll just have to see with them, but it seems like it can be turned into a SaaS solution.

I also had a conversation with another company in the same niche and, bless them, they had spent the last couple of days since my outreach email thinking of problems they have and manual tasks they wanted to automate.

So, as soon as I got on the phone with them they came out with one problem that is costing them about 40 hours per month PER PERSON to deal with. It's also pretty straightforward to solve, so I'm going to sketch out a solution to this and put it forward to them.

This could be a standalone product, but I'm pretty certain that it is scalable out to others in a similar situation (its a task that is crucial to their business if they have high volume).

Exciting times!

Business is becoming much more straightforward in my head.

Most problems you have can be solved by speaking to the market.

Don't have an idea? Speak to the market.

Don't have sales? Speak to the market.

Aren't sure why people aren't buying? Speak to the market.

Not sure how to add more value to your offering? Speak to the market and ask.

And this is why it is "difficult".

Because most people (especially in the online business arena) want to avoid having to speak to potential customers.

Great! Makes it easier for me

 

[EnglandBorn]

Friday 8th August

Relatively good day today. I received feedback from the company I referenced in my last update who needed a solution to automate a task that is taking them 40 hours per staff member per month to manage. They help clarified how the solution would look and what it would need to do. This will help me put together a exact flow chart of how the solution would work and help me actually put it together for them.

I also received feedback from another company in the same niche that told me they faced the same problem as this company I'm preparing the solution for, so this is promising. I'm now contacting more companies in this niche and asking them straight up if they face this problem. If I get multiple yes's then I can safely assume that this will be a SaaSable product and proceed accordingly with pricing and preselling.

I'm finding that a daily list of tasks to do each day is really helping me focus on the process and not get emotionally involved in the ups and downs. As long as I do what I have marked down in my list then I am happy. I've set myself minimum goals for each day in terms of activities (number of people reached out to etc.) and as long as I do it I know that I'm going to be making progress even if I don't get the result I want on a single day.

I can't control the results but I can control my actions. Consistant action every single day will get me where I want to get to, even if it doesn't feel like it some days.

 

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