The Decision Strategist

This post is a bit of a tangent from decision making, but it has relevance:

I haven’t registered my business, don’t have a working prototype, and have no idea whether what I’m trying to do is a good idea, but I already see three mistakes I’ve made while starting my business:

1. Waiting to long. It has taken me at least four years start implementing some of my business ideas. Why did I wait so long? Mainly because of…
2. Too much planning. Even though I mostly agree that plans are useless, I still plan too much. It’s perversely fun to sit there with a business plan and write out what you are going to do. But it’s even more fun to actually do it. How many business plans have I written only to lose interest because I wasn’t making any progress (hint: it’s more than 3)? This just makes it worse because I…
3. Haven’t quit my day job. To be honest, I am still making this mistake. But my day job is really pretty good and I’m don’t actually have a product to launch yet. Still, I wonder how much I’m sacrificing?

I’m sure I’ll have many more to report soon enough.

However, I’ve also done at least three things right:

1. Read entrepreneur’s writing. Not only does it help to get me motivated, it stimulates ideas and solutions to problems.
2. Starting The Decision Strategist. This blog is only obliquely related to what I’m trying to do, it gets me thinking, forces me to put in some time, and ensures that the idea is always at the forefront of my mind. I was worried that writing would take time away from programming, but I think it is actually motivating me to work more.
3. Pursued funding. Not that I have received any, but the need to have a working prototype to present to potential investors, and having a deadline for that presentation, has really forced me to work on something that I might not have otherwise.

In short, everything that I’ve done that has committed me to getting something done has been helpful, even if it added more work, but everything I’ve done to give myself more time or provide a cushion has hindered my progress.

Paul Graham says to do the hard things first. It keeps you interested and ensures that you get something done. I think he’s right, but in the beginning everything is hard, and the most helpful thing I’ve done is make commitments to my business so that I have to get things done (and I don’t mean promises to myself, I mean commitments that other people are aware of).

Most of us have a dream we’ve been talking about doing but haven’t ever done. In the decision on whether or not to start on it today, it’s almost always easier to do it tomorrow. Commitments shift that balance so that you come home wanting to make it happen every day. It works for quitting bad habits, Alcoholics Anonymous, dieting, and other things that our long-term self wants that our short-term self isn’t as interested in.

-zot

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 3rd, 2007 at 9:57 am and is filed under Entrepreneurship, Human Error.