Obsession with perfection for my site

[Dutchy]

<div class="bbWrapper">Hi guys,<br /> <br /> Well, I&#039;ve done it. I&#039;m taking the steps to get my idea rolling out. I&#039;m creating my site with basic functions, allowing me to branch out and add new features along the way. <br /> <br /> I got the .com domain name I wanted (finally), got my logo, got the general design of the pages including account pages and the homepage. It&#039;s a fun, free (for this particular section), playful service involving loans.<br /> <br /> Now, here&#039;s the problem. I&#039;m being way too obsessive with how it looks. I know deep down it doesn&#039;t matter, just get it out there, and that the more I screw around with it without launching, the most time I effectively waste with potential sign ups and regular users.<br /> <br /> What are your views in helping me change this? I suppose the main question is:<br /> <br /> <b>Do you guys think this &quot;perfection&quot; will actually help the business? <br /> <br /> </b>It&#039;s really odd, I know people would find just as much use from the site if it wasn&#039;t &quot;perfect&quot; and yet, I can&#039;t help myself!<br /> <br /> Look forward to your suggestions <img src="/community/imgs/emoticons/em-smile2.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-shortname=":)" /><br /> <br /> Thanks and all the best!</div>

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Rickson9]

<div class="bbWrapper">The only obsession that is useful is the obsession to secure paying customers. The rest is just easily farmed out busy work.</div>

 

[Dutchy]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="" data-quote="Rickson9" data-source="post: 175568" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=175568" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-175568">Rickson9 said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> The only obsession that is useful is the obsession to secure paying customers. The rest is just easily farmed out busy work. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote> <br /> Thanks Rickson, appreciate your reply.<br /> <br /> I&#039;m trying to get people familiar with the free service first. I&#039;m not actively pursuing cash at this stage, however, with the added features, I&#039;m sure membership fees are in order.</div>

 

[Dutchy]

<div class="bbWrapper">OK, I&#039;m brainstorming a lot here and ANY opinion is appreciated!<br /> <br /> I wonder <b>how</b> successful free services can be by themselves without getting into the membership fee arena.<br /> <br /> Any input here from people who have &#039;free&#039; sites? Are they guaranteed slow-lane if a potential &#039;buyout&#039; doesn&#039;t arise? <br /> <br /> I&#039;m thinking ads and all that can only get you <i><u>so</u></i> much revenue...unless you turn into a Perez Hilton or that Wordpress theme site with 100,000&#039;s dropping into your bank account just from ads.</div>

 

[Icy]

<div class="bbWrapper">Free is a hobby (which is 100% fine), not a business. At the very least have something up for a paid membership (as though it&#039;s already implemented), and then just have a page for &quot;it&#039;s not quite ready yet&quot; and get emails of people interested.<br /> <br /> If you start off saying this service is 100% free, and want to switch to become a business. You&#039;ll be enjoying hordes of angry people. <img src="/community/imgs/emoticons/em-wink.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" data-shortname=";)" /><br /> <br /> Also, perfection doesn&#039;t matter, look at any company, and you&#039;ll be able to find tons of screw ups (yes, even things that seem impenetrable like Google or Facebook). The funny thing is though, if it&#039;s handled &quot;correctly&quot; it just as quickly forgotten about as it happened.</div>

 

[Dutchy]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="" data-quote="Icy" data-source="post: 175572" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=175572" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-175572">Icy said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> Free is a hobby (which is 100% fine), not a business. At the very least have something up for a paid membership (as though it&#039;s already implemented), and then just have a page for &quot;it&#039;s not quite ready yet&quot; and get emails of people interested.<br /> <br /> If you start off saying this service is 100% free, and want to switch to become a business. You&#039;ll be enjoying hordes of angry people. <img src="/community/imgs/emoticons/em-wink.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" data-shortname=";)" /><br /> <br /> Also, perfection doesn&#039;t matter, look at any company, and you&#039;ll be able to find tons of screw ups (yes, even things that seem impenetrable like Google or Facebook). The funny thing is though, if it&#039;s handled &quot;correctly&quot; it just as quickly forgotten about as it happened. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> Excellent post with very good points. One thing I may not have made myself clear on. There&#039;s differnet target audiences. Basically the free or &quot;Lite&quot; version is aimed at the younger crowd. <br /> <br /> The paid section will be in ADDITON to, allowing for quite a few extra features (useful ones!) for more serious loans. So you&#039;ll start off with the free one and have the possibility of a paid one....reckon I should implement both at the same time??<br /> <br /> Thanks Icy <img src="/community/imgs/emoticons/em-smile2.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-shortname=":)" /></div>

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[dreaminBIG]

<div class="bbWrapper">Dutchy,<br /> <br /> Sounds like you already knew the answer to your dillema before you even posted! You were already smart enough to know that the obsession with perfection wasn&#039;t the most important aspect to your business model, you just enjoy it so maybe you were just looking for justification. Looks like you&#039;ve already transmuted that energy and attention into more profitable aspects of the business. <br /> <br /> Good luck with your venture!</div>

 

[Dutchy]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="" data-quote="dreaminBIG" data-source="post: 175587" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=175587" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-175587">dreaminBIG said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> Dutchy,<br /> <br /> Sounds like you already knew the answer to your dillema before you even posted! You were already smart enough to know that the obsession with perfection wasn&#039;t the most important aspect to your business model, you just enjoy it so maybe you were just looking for justification. Looks like you&#039;ve already transmuted that energy and attention into more profitable aspects of the business. <br /> <br /> Good luck with your venture! </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote> <br /> Haha, I guess I needed to see it on paper...indeed, justification is what I was looking for. Thanks buddy, appreciate your comments!</div>

 

[HenkHolland]

<div class="bbWrapper">Dutchy,<br /> <br /> Remember that &#039;the fast will eat the slow&#039; and not (as most people think) &#039;the big will eat the small&#039;.<br /> Get going quickly with a site that is good enough. You can perfect and fine tune the site along the way.<br /> Good luck.<br /> <br /> <br /> Henk</div>

 

[Dutchy]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="" data-quote="HenkHolland" data-source="post: 175614" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=175614" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-175614">HenkHolland said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> &#039;the fast will eat the slow&#039; and not (as most people think) &#039;the big will eat the small&#039;. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote> <br /> Very true...I guess I never <u>really</u> stopped and thought about that.<br /> <br /> Thanks Henk, and also thanks for the PM, will give you a solid reply when I can...very informative!</div>

 

[77startup]

<div class="bbWrapper">I think your obsession with perfect stems out from the fear that all entrepreneurs share that their idea might not survive first contact with the customer. <br /> <br /> The most important thing is to launch quickly, and launch anyway. It&#039;s ok if you suck at version one, that&#039;s what makes version two so amazing.</div>

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Dutchy]

<div class="bbWrapper">You may be right there. It&#039;s a strange feeling...like you feel customers will be turned off if the font on your page isn&#039;t right. Thanks for your reply!</div>

 

[77startup]

<div class="bbWrapper">Yea I fully understand. It&#039;s terrifying. There are so many reasons you should succeed and so many reasons you should fail. One bad review can make you feel like the dumbest human on earth, yet one good review you feel like a genius. <br /> <br /> I think it&#039;s extremely important in the begining to have a strong network of friends who are also entrepreneurs or it might overwhelm you. Starting a business is literally like going to war, and doing it without support can be crippling. <br /> <br /> For example look at Frank Kern when he got sued for a couple million by the FTC. If his buddies weren&#039;t there for him he might not have been able to make a come back.</div>

 

[Dutchy]

<div class="bbWrapper">My thoughts exactly. I&#039;m going to do my best and find a club or group that promotes this type of thinking and acting. Thanks bud!</div>

 

[77startup]

<div class="bbWrapper">Add me on skype &quot;socks-to-your-door,inc&quot;. I&#039;m always looking for new people who share the vision.</div>

 

[Dutchy]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="" data-quote="77startup" data-source="post: 175626" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=175626" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-175626">77startup said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> Add me on skype &quot;socks-to-your-door,inc&quot;. I&#039;m always looking for new people who share the vision. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote> <br /> Done <img src="/community/imgs/emoticons/em-smile2.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-shortname=":)" /></div>

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[fm1234]

<div class="bbWrapper">Not only are you wasting time, but what on earth makes you think &quot;perfect&quot; exists? A website is not a pyramid -- it should be fluid, constantly testing little new things to see what can increase conversions, enhance the user experience etc. And even if you don&#039;t consider perfection a static absolute, if it&#039;s a service-oriented site then &quot;perfect to you&quot; is a meaningless metric (unless you plan on being your only customer!) <br /> <br /> The only guaranteed defence against failure is to not try. But unfortunately that choice is not itself without costs. Get that site up! <br /> <br /> <br /> Frank</div>

 

[Dutchy]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="" data-quote="fm1234" data-source="post: 175800" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=175800" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-175800">fm1234 said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> Not only are you wasting time, but what on earth makes you think &quot;perfect&quot; exists? A website is not a pyramid -- it should be fluid, constantly testing little new things to see what can increase conversions, enhance the user experience etc. And even if you don&#039;t consider perfection a static absolute, if it&#039;s a service-oriented site then &quot;perfect to you&quot; is a meaningless metric (unless you plan on being your only customer!) <br /> <br /> The only guaranteed defence against failure is to not try. But unfortunately that choice is not itself without costs. Get that site up! <br /> <br /> <br /> Frank </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> Very well put! I&#039;ve come to realise this 100%....wtf is perfection and the feature list can easily be added on to without any issues really...I&#039;m actually getting this done now. It is being programmed as we speak! Thanks for the no-BS words!</div>