One of my earliest journeys into entrepreneurship, around 20 years ago, was with a friend. We had been asked to do websites for clients, but we were getting bored of doing the same thing repeatedly. This was in the early 2000s, and we decided – naively – to create a platform that allowed clients to make their own edits. (This was before platforms were a thing).
It seemed like a great idea 馃槒
It seemed like a great idea. It would save us time, and it was a new business model. Software as a service wasn’t really a thing back then – this was before WordPress. But we focused too much on the details and didn’t really ask customers what they wanted.
Turns out, they just wanted simple websites. Websites were new, and they didn’t need anything fancy. We, on the other hand, wanted bells and whistles – what did the customer know, right?
So instead of building (and shipping) something really simple we spent a lot of time trying to build a complex solution for something that the customers didn’t actually need but we thought was cool.
We focused too much on getting everything “right” – and our “right,” not the customer’s. Ultimately, we didn鈥檛 launch the product.
In hindsight, it was a cutting-edge idea. Platforms like WordPress or Squarespace launched, iterated, and kept improving. That was my first big lesson in building a product: get it out quickly, identify the biggest needs and benefits, and focus there. Don鈥檛 wait for it to be perfect, because it never will be.
I often use the analogy of tending a garden – it’s never finished. You鈥檒l always be pruning, replacing, and moving things around. The moment you leave it alone, it starts to grow wild, and you lose control.
Learning lessons takes time
It took time to learn these lessons, and I had a few similar experiences early on. I鈥檇 start out doing one thing, and through lack of communication, different parties would be off on their own tangents. There were no clear roles or expectations set – so for instance people developing the product assumed others would handle marketing or bring in customers.
The key takeaway is that, especially in a small startup, you need clearly defined roles, and everyone has to know what they鈥檙e doing. Communication is crucial. Constantly revisit your plan, and if you鈥檙e building a business, make sure you understand where the money is coming from, where the usage is, and what your customers want. Then give it to them as quickly as possible.
Have you ever had a project that didn鈥檛 go as planned? What did you learn from it? I鈥檇 love to hear your stories in the comments!