When do you know it is ready?

[lesane]

Hi guys! As you know, building a company is by no means an easy task and it takes a lot of time of learning and applying what you have learned into the creation of it especially if you are on a tight budget. The issue arises when you want to deliver an excellent product but you are constantly thinking of all the different aspects that your company should have and provide if you want to give a good quality service/product, especially if you compare it to the big companies that dominate the sector. My question is: How do you determine if your company is "good enough" to be launched to generate some customers and then you make it better mainly with the revenue of such customers?

 

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[Stargazer]

If you tell me that you can fly me in your little biplane from England to Normandy for a spot of lunch and back, I don't need you to be British Airways or Virgin do I?

So can you deliver your product/service to the right type of customer and they will be happy with the result?

Dan

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

How do you determine if your company is "good enough" to be launched to generate some customers and then you make it better mainly with the revenue of such customers?

The second someone is willing to give you money for your promise.

If you tell me that you can fly me in your little biplane from England to Normandy for a spot of lunch and back, I don't need you to be British Airways or Virgin do I?

So can you deliver your product/service to the right type of customer and they will be happy with the result?

Dan

I'm not ready to give you money to fly me though...

 

[lesane]

If you tell me that you can fly me in your little biplane from England to Normandy for a spot of lunch and back, I don't need you to be British Airways or Virgin do I?

So can you deliver your product/service to the right type of customer and they will be happy with the result?

Dan

If you tell me that you can fly me in your little biplane from England to Normandy for a spot of lunch and back, I don't need you to be British Airways or Virgin do I?

So can you deliver your product/service to the right type of customer and they will be happy with the result?

Dan

The second someone is willing to give you money for your promise.



I'm not ready to give you money to fly me though...

Would you recommend creating a demo version or something similar to see how people respond to it before making more decisions to upgrade the product?

 

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[Kung Fu Steve]

Would you recommend creating a demo version or something similar to see how people respond to it before making more decisions to upgrade the product?

How about you just tell us who you serve and how you help them?

The vague-ness hurts my soul.

 

[lesane]

How about you just tell us who you serve and how you help them?

The vague-ness hurts my soul.

The people I would like to serve are freelancers who don't have lots of experience but can give great results connect with entrepeneurs that are also starting and viceversa. This, of course, is the main target but it could be changed if it didn't work.

 

[Andy Black]

The people I would like to serve are freelancers who don't have lots of experience but can give great results connect with entrepeneurs that are also starting and viceversa. This, of course, is the main target but it could be changed if it didn't work.

Have you connected any freelancers with entrepreneurs yet?

If not then maybe start there?


This might help:

HOT! - MINDSET - Stop Building Stuff

Stop Building Stuff (Originally posted here and then here.) I worked for a company that was building a content creation platform. I worked for a startup that was building a new social network. I worked for another company that was building a call centre. I've had many many clients that were...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

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[lesane]

Have you connected any freelancers with entrepreneurs yet?

If not then maybe start there?


This might help:

HOT! - MINDSET - Stop Building Stuff

Stop Building Stuff (Originally posted here and then here.) I worked for a company that was building a content creation platform. I worked for a startup that was building a new social network. I worked for another company that was building a call centre. I've had many many clients that were...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

Hi Andy! I just read the post and I find it very interesting. It's who we do it for and why. What is hard for me to imagine is how you can do it without building in this case a website/platform where people can have access to see what you offer. Does that make sense?

 

[NervesOfSteel]

if your company is "good enough" to be launched to generate some customers and then you make it better mainly with the revenue of such customers?

It's the Product that defines a company, not vice versa!

I have a rule of thumb: If you haven't made sales on it, it's either a Shitty product or Not ready yet, the former being most probable!

 

[Johnny boy]

"How good should I be at baseball before I play my first game? I want to be a major leaguer".

You suck right now...

Go get some reps in and maybe after a few thousand of them and years later you might be good. You may have a natural talent for it and have potential to be hyper successful if you work extremely hard.

Works the same in many ways.

Go sell shit and realize you suck and then get better. Keep reiterating and after you get your teeth kicked in for a while you'll suck less and then it might even start to be good. I don't understand "launching". Maybe I'm stupid. I only understand transacting and improving.

 

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[Gsuz]

It's pretty easy to fall into the trap of "it's not good enough" AKA "I need to change the shade of blue on my contact button to make money" but it's not important at this stage. IMO, what you should do is going fast on the less important stuff (at this stage) and going deep on the things that matter
1. Create a basic website using Webflow or WordPress (Kadence has some nice looking starter themes) or other no-code options (you can even hack together basic SaaS apps for demos this way)
2. Narrow down what you're offering - make it a GREAT offer
3. Get in front of potential customers
4. Tweak it until you got customers
5. Go from there

There are so many less than good, by the standards of most, businesses out there making a ton of money. For example, I made 300k+ as a freelancer on the side w/ a profile that has 3 sentences and no profile picture. FWIW, Uber is using a Google form for their advertising signup/interest:

Advertising on Uber Interest Form

Fill out this form if you are interested in advertising with Uber

docs.google.com

Their expected annual revenue was $650 million for 2023... tl;dr: profit, then polish

 

[Andy Black]

I don't understand "launching".

I don't either.

"Hey Johnny Boy. I'm thinking of providing XYZ service. Do you know anyone who might be interested?"

Have I launched if you introduce me to people who then hire me?

Or have I launched only after setting up a company, creating accounts on all social media platforms, creating a website, funnel, email sequence, and then announcing to the world how excited I am to be open for business?


( @lesane ... this isn't a dig at you or anyone in particular. It's just me being a cynical old guy.)