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Here’s a confession.
I’ve failed at more businesses than I’ve succeeded at. Let me tell you why.
Like most programmers, I have an extreme urge to plan, to perfect, to abstract. And in a new business this is the most illogical thing you can do.
Because all plans made without the benefit of past experience are worthless. They fall apart on their first encounter with the unexpected.
When you’re ploughing new ground, the only sensible thing to do is to leap before you look.
If you know your market reads blogs, start a blog. The topic. The graphics. You can figure it all out later.
If you need to sell, just start calling people. You’ll look like an idiot at first. But who cares? You’ll get better.
The important thing to accept is that starting a business is messy. It’s confusing. It’s a rat-in-a-maze endeavor where the winner will always be the one who bumps into the most walls.
Technorati Tags: microISV, ISV, business of software, business planning
2 comments ↓
It took me a while to get used to that simple fact—but it’s so true. What annoys me is that I got it fairly right without the knowledge as a high school kid, then “unlearned” it and got lost in years of analysis paralysis. Of course it all depends on context and there are markets or situations where total chaos and lack of planning will just bury you. But in essence, you are right. The right moment to plan something is when it is part of a signed contract or to actually chase a lead. Without a contract or a lead, don’t plan much, just get moving to get contracts or leads. Of course, in product development this is a little bit different. A little.
BTW the title of your post is slightly off.
Hey Philipp,
I agree with you 100% that planning is necessary when it’s necessary.
Although, to tell you the truth some people would probably think my product development approach is “pure chaos”.
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