I have a great idea for an app…! The lessons I’ve learnt
from my entrepreneurial adventure.
“I have a great idea for an app!” How many times have you
heard this? Then you say, “Yeah you should totally make that app! I’d use it!”
Chances are you’d never use it, you’re just being nice. You probably don’t even
know what they’re talking about.
I have ideas everyday, great ideas to improve my life, other
peoples’ lives. Simple ideas, complicated ones, most of them never even leave
my mouth, they just float around in my head for a while, then disappear.
Most people’s ideas never see the light of day, which is
sometimes a shame, sometimes not! I decided to bite off a lot when I decided to
put into action my first big idea. It took a lot longer to execute than I ever
imagined, cost a lot more, and took up almost all of my life, exhausting me and
all of my friends and family. 3 years on and my 6 month project is only just
getting off the ground now.
What I learnt is that I learnt. I learnt how to manage a
project. I learnt how to understand people better, what they meant when they
said something and did something else. I learnt that things take time. I wanted
everything today, and that if I work hard everything will happen. That was a
big one! People are hopelessly unreliable and when you learn that, you can plan
around it and become more successful.
The process usually goes like this: Light bulb goes off,
great idea for an app or business is announced, you make it on budget and on time,
then you press the big GO button, and it's is a global success!
What actually happens is this: Light bulb goes off, great
idea for an app or business is announced, you struggle to find a developer to make your app because you don’t even know how to start searching for a developer let alone
create an app, you fail to explain the idea to your developer correctly, your
developer creates the wrong app, takes 3 times as long as deadline and 3 times
over budget, you struggle to launch your app as its not what you planned,
you’re over budget and have no idea how to execute your idea, then project probably fails.
If I knew what I was getting into 3 years ago, would I
change anything? Absolutely not! If
you’re sure your idea will work, do it. Quit talking about it and do it. 90% of businesses fail, and your idea will probably fail too. But you won’t fail. You’ll
learn more than you’ve ever leant working for someone else, and you’ll use
these savvy skills to work on your next project, and the next, and the next.
In between working on my first idea, another opportunity
came up to set up a simple retail store.
I made the time, used my skills, put it into gear in a matter of weeks, and now
we have a hugely successful home décor and outdoor furniture retail business
operating profitably after just 12 months. Its been intensely challenging,
tiring and exhausting, and I’ve loved every minute.
Go for the jugular, learn skills, fail, succeed. Wash and
repeat.
#syncinit #ozurban #startup #entrepreneur
