Actually Finishing Stuff

[Arevico]

Hey Guys & Girls,

Few years ago I experienced what it was like to develop and sell a WordPress product (i financed college with it). The problem I had, was frivolous spending and not producing more and more and more. This way around I want to fix that.

I trying to be actively in a producers mindset. However, I struggle finishing a product. Always having ideas, but having a hard time finishing one. How do you guys approach this?

 

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[TonyStark]

Your passion for delivering a solid product to your customer has to outweigh your laziness.

 

[Andy Daniels]

The market tells you what they want, so planning out month by month is not recommended. My advice is use the CENTS commandments that MJ outlined in his books and make sure your idea meets each commandment.

You also can't give 100% to many things at once (at least I can't) so I would put all your energy into one thing, if it fails, that is totally normal, and you will learn lots of lessons from it.

 

[Iammelissamoore]

Seems as if you require a mindset shift in recognising the importance of what you are doing, or more so - why are you doing it? What's your drive to get this done? Is it that you are doing it because you simply want to build quick riches or is it because there are problems in life you genuinely want to solve?

Maybe you've only experienced a FTM and not specifically a FTE that gives you the drive to complete and deliver.

Once you can centre your mindset on your why, then it would not only help you to centre your focus on completion, but it would even help you to fine-tune whichever product you are working on utilising the principles highlighted in TMF and Unscripted .

 

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[Arevico]

Seems as if you require a mindset shift in recognising the importance of what you are doing, or more so - why are you doing it? What's your drive to get this done? Is it that you are doing it because you simply want to build quick riches or is it because there are problems in life you genuinely want to solve?

I try to recall my first product, I actually liked learning and iterating. The new product is more complex, but when the mundane tasks like UIs and data mapping occur i tend to get off track. I am probably more focussed on making money, altough I did spot a market opportunity and its really something people benefit from.

Should i incorperate this into my process in some way ? F.E. Reviewing my reasons for developping the product every morning

 

[Iammelissamoore]

I try to recall my first product, I actually liked learning and iterating. The new product is more complex, but when the mundane tasks like UIs and data mapping occur i tend to get off track. I am probably more focussed on making money, altough I did spot a market opportunity and its really something people benefit from.

Should i incorperate this into my process in some way ? F.E. Reviewing my reasons for developping the product every morning

There you go - you have to refocus. Trust me, if our main focus in business is simply 'making money' we've already lost the battle. One of the reasons most businesses fail is because of the money-chasing. Since you've recognised that UIs and data mapping isn't your fun-point, you can look at outsourcing that aspect of your business to assist in getting ahead.

Regarding your process, this is the life-blood of your business, you want to ensure that every step of the way is meaningful and that at every step of the way, you're seeing why it will be beneficial to your customer. After all, you are doing this for them. The large sums of money businesses make through success, is because of the great impact they have on their customers by solving their customers' problems, thus, it leads the customer to confidently exchange money (regardless of the cost) for that solution.

 

[Arevico]

There you go - you have to refocus. Trust me, if our main focus in business is simply 'making money' we've already lost the battle. One of the reasons most businesses fail is because of the money-chasing. Since you've recognised that UIs and data mapping isn't your fun-point, you can look at outsourcing that aspect of your business to assist in getting ahead.

Regarding your process, this is the life-blood of your business, you want to ensure that every step of the way is meaningful and that at every step of the way, you're seeing why it will be beneficial to your customer. After all, you are doing this for them. The large sums of money businesses make through success, is because of the great impact they have on their customers by solving their customers' problems, thus, it leads the customer to confidently exchange money (regardless of the cost) for that solution.

Should I finish the final product, maybe in a smaller optimized form to instill the discipine of finishing or re/evaluate the idea and start a new project ?

 

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[Philip Marlowe]

I've used the 'One Thing' to terrific effect after reading Keller's book.

Try this - write down the one thing that if done today, would move your product/business/whatever forward. You may need to break down big tasks into smaller ones.

Might help you make consistent progress against a goal. When you've done your 'X' number of 'one thing' it should lead to your goal at the end. I oversimplified a bit, but not much. Pick one thing per day and do it - you have 24 hours to get it done.

To your very specific question - I like iterative development because it might help show you the market before you get too far down the road like under some colossal waterfall development plan.

 

[Iammelissamoore]

Should I finish the final product, maybe in a smaller optimized form to instill the discipine of finishing or re/evaluate the idea and start a new project ?

What you choose to do solely depends on what your intended result is.

Are you creating a prototype for testing purposes - as like to test within your market? OR, is it a case that you already recognised the demand for your product and you are at the stage where you are ready to take it to the world?

Your day-to-day activity depends on what your result is. Again, it is your why, as to like why are you doing what you are doing? If it's just for the purpose of making money, then good luck with that.

Entrepreneurs are Problem-Solvers i.e. To the existing problems in the world, we find solutions and package it in the form of an effective product/service which will make customers' lives easier; the money only comes when we accomplish delivering the completed solution into the hands of the customers.

If you are struggling with completing your product, you can work on ways to get things done. If there are aspects you do not know, you can learn - we live in an era where information is all around us, and if that's too boring and you have the money, then outsource those aspects. To give up and say, "I don't know" is simply to not give any effort, which would then show that what you are working on isn't important enough.

I do not know if you read any of the books MJ wrote, as he speaks heavily to your scenario, but he also stresses the importance of building a product/service/business/brand around Value Value Value - What Value does your product bring to your customer?

I'm also guessing that you are filled with fear in completing the genuine aspect of your product, because you are afraid of what customers may think and you are afraid of rejection - the only way you will know is when you pitch it into the market, and then you use the feedback to continue perfecting it while creating sales. Rejection in life is not ever the end of the road, what rejection teaches is that there is an element(s) which requires a bit of tweaking in order for us to get something right.

You have to know what you are about, what value you are bringing to your customer, what legacy you wish to build.

 

[Arevico]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, i really appreciate it. I've read the fast lane and i'm currently reading unscripted . The product is a product I wish i had myself and I can see value in it and why it would be useful. It is based on something I made and used on my own site, but a better version with things i learned about programming, maintenance and usability. There are some products out there doing the same and more, but their interfaces are really complex. I tend to keep it as simple possible by excluding certain options. I can help people with support a lot as well.

The hypothesis is that other people have the same itch, but I think the main mindset I have right now is finish a very basic version to check if other people do indeed have that itch. So it's not realy a prototype, but more like a Minimum Desireable Product (correct me if those are the same)

I know that if thats the case money will follow, i thought about it and thats how my first product developed. I iterated numerous free versions on the WordPress.org repository and eventually I added a premium version. Some features were difficult to implement and did require some support, those I included in the premium version of my plugin

Is this a good way to validate that people have the same 'itch'. Basically this is my main fear, developing something which might not be used (i guess this risk always exists, even if you have the right mindset / use the right processes ?)

So, going forward i will develop the software for the following reasons:
- Help webmasters using a specific online service easier
- Create a usable product which simplifies the process (sorry that i don't go into specifics about what the product is about)
- Create code which is better structurally and better supported than most solutions out there
- Finish something I know is within reach technically, to train my self-discipline
- Check if people have the same itch and if and if only it provides value I'll monetize it

 

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[sotomo]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, i really appreciate it. I've read the fast lane and i'm currently reading unscripted . The product is a product I wish i had myself and I can see value in it and why it would be useful. It is based on something I made and used on my own site, but a better version with things i learned about programming, maintenance and usability. There are some products out there doing the same and more, but their interfaces are really complex. I tend to keep it as simple possible by excluding certain options. I can help people with support a lot as well.

The hypothesis is that other people have the same itch, but I think the main mindset I have right now is finish a very basic version to check if other people do indeed have that itch. So it's not realy a prototype, but more like a Minimum Desireable Product (correct me if those are the same)

I know that if thats the case money will follow, i thought about it and thats how my first product developed. I iterated numerous free versions on the WordPress.org repository and eventually I added a premium version. Some features were difficult to implement and did require some support, those I included in the premium version of my plugin

Is this a good way to validate that people have the same 'itch'. Basically this is my main fear, developing something which might not be used (i guess this risk always exists, even if you have the right mindset / use the right processes ?)

So, going forward i will develop the software for the following reasons:
- Help webmasters using a specific online service easier
- Create a usable product which simplifies the process (sorry that i don't go into specifics about what the product is about)
- Create code which is better structurally and better supported than most solutions out there
- Finish something I know is within reach technically, to train my self-discipline
- Check if people have the same itch and if and if only it provides value I'll monetize it

 

[sotomo]

This is my first response to a forum post, so please forgive me if I'm overlooking any etiquette rules. I just felt the need to reply since I am a software developer too! Your approach sounds reasonable to me. I'm not a good one to give advice, since I've had no fabulous successes. But I have noticed that most money making software is a tool for marketing some other product. Google sells advertisements. Amazon is a reseller/warehouse. Uber manages cabs. And so on. But at the same time, there are occasional pure software successes such as mobile games like Candy Crush with their in app purchases.

I'd think that one's best bet would be multiple purchasable products within your plugin. Or maybe you can sell a subscription, rather than a one time fee, for your software. Honestly, I think that people respect those who value their own work by charging an appropriate fee for the time they put into creating it. If you charge an ongoing subscription, the user might be satisfied knowing that you will continue to update the software and provide support for years.