If Everything Seems Under Control, You’re Not Going Fast Enough

Back in the 90’s I used to play a game called Red Planet. It was a racing game set on Mars and you played in immersive VR pods at any a Virtual World location.

The motto of the game is “Velocity = Victory” because the faster you went the more likely you were to win. But it took developing a fair bit of skill to be able to run some of the maps at high speed.

I’m less of a gamer these days, but speed has been on my mind a lot lately. While at CEX in early May, the theme of speed also kept coming up. It was definitely one of those “the universe is talking to you” kind of moments.

Then I heard the expression “time to first dollar.” I think it was Joe Pulizzi who said it, though I can’t remember for certain. But the point was to emphasize the importance for creators and solopreneurs to start making money as fast as possible.

Now, instead of gaming, I’m reading a book called “Mind Your Mindset: The Science That Shows Success Starts With Your Thinking.” In the book, the author shares another quote that smacked me in the face:

“You don’t know what business you’re in until you get into business.”

It’s a brief, but elegant, way to articulate why getting started is so important. You won’t know what you’re doing until you get it out there and start getting real-world feedback.

There are a lot of forms of feedback, but money is the strongest indicator of them all.

Too many projects die, or worse, linger on and on, because we get bogged down in planning, research, or get frozen by fear.

Given the mass layoffs in tech, inflation, war, and general uncertainty right now, you don’t have time to wait.

Whether you want to leave your 9 to 5, got laid off, or want to do something different, speed is your friend and, for most, a necessity.

So How Do You Move Faster?

This is where the idea of the minimum viable product comes in (applies to services too).

A quick recap:

A minimum viable product (MVP) is an early version of a product or service with just enough features to be of use to early customers who can then provide feedback for future enhancement.

The dangerous thing about waiting too long and building too much before you “get it out there” is that you risk spending a lot of time and money building something no one wants.

To move faster:

1. Define the most basic level of your product or service.

2. Understand who your target customer is (btw, this will likely change over time too).

3. Start selling.

4. Gather feedback, iterate, and sell again.

Don’t overthink it.

There are abundant stories of people selling products or services before they build them to gauge interest. You can always give people their money back if you don’t push forward.

The benefits of this approach are simple:

1. You start making money now so you can afford to live and let the business fund further enhancement.

2. You enhance your offering with things your customers want. Which in turn adds value so you can charge more and scale revenue without necessarily needing to hire more people.

I’m challenging you to get your business out there and get to that first dollar. If you already have some revenue great. But if you’re not where you want to be, if you’re stuck, or getting your business to the place that you want is taking too long let’s chat.

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Other Stuff That Caught My Attention

​Make ChatGPT Sound Like You​

I’m as tired as anyone with the “how to prompt ChatGPT” posts but this carousel by Clint Murphy on LinkedIn is a great guide. If you’re using ChatGPT to assist in your writing this is a must-read.

​The creator economy could approach half a trillion dollars by 2027​

There is plenty for everyone but what are you waiting for? The sooner you get it out there the better you’ll do. NOW is the time to experiment and figure things out.

Is Success Luck or Hard Work

Veritasium does it again. Spoiler alert: The answer is “Yes.”

​A Hopeful Future for Midlife Entrepreneurship​

Contrary to popular belief, entrepreneurship doesn’t belong to the young. If you’re worried about your age when starting a new business stop worrying and get to work. The combination of business and life experience means you’re more likely to succeed than you’re younger counterparts.

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