Genius or Idiotic : it’s really not that clear right now

Running a company big or small, there’s just some things you have to do on your own. Last night I stayed up relatively late (okay, okay real late) composing an email it went out to theWTFactory Fans this morning. I’m sure one day I’ll probably look at this email as either one of the stupidest things that are done or one of the smartest things I’ve ever done but I find it highly unlikely me that the composure and the decision to send that in the manner that I did will fall anywhere in between.

If you’re into reading any of them popular business magazines, listening to the popular business podcasts, or the autobiographies and advice of business gurus I’m sure that you will agree that what is repeatedly told as a blanket statement is the sermon of single-minded focus. That is to say that in order to be successful in reaching full potential in the business matter you got to be focused single-mindedly on one project or one business at a time especially when you’re getting started. Now, I’m not going to debunk that in any shape or manner or form. I can say from personal experience that the little bit of success that up this experience so far has largely been from the application of that principle of single-minded focus.

Art Williams has a famous and highly inspiring speech that I have wondered if Nike got the campaign “Just do it” from. The speech is actually titled “Just do it” and he repeatedly emphasized the necessity of focus and “doing it, doing it, and doing it until the job gets done”.

Wow! Where is a wall I can run though right now?!

BTW Art Williams has a book called ‘All you can do is all you can do but all you can do is enough’ — what a great name. I own but honestly haven’t gotten around to reading it just yet.

So, why do people not stick this well known, highly publicized, and long proven principle? Is it because they are lazy, or ignorant, or noncommittal? I argue that most people are not any of these.

Seth Godin has a great book called ‘The Dip’.

To sum up what it’s about, it’s this: when you start a venture or business you will put a LOT of hard work into getting started. Like pushing a freight train there is a lot of energy put into getting it all started. After that initial HARD push you see results! Things are looking up! Then comes the dip — the Hard Part. This is where the novelty has worn off, your news isn’t exciting or new and you must figure out how to build a sustainable business or quit.

For us at theWTFactory the dip has taken the form of tremendous engineering challenges in our bread and butter product. These challenges have placed the brakes on our growth and business development. We have people who pre-ordered in October and we still haven’t shipped them the product that was slated for completion in January. This is the part of the process where people start looking around and starting on another project, wondering if this is the right thing for them, this is where people decide to dig in and cross the chasm or turn back.

Back to that email…. So, what do you say to customers that have been waiting and had a shipping date of what appears to be a simple product on the surface delayed and pushed back by your new company. Well, I took a slightly comedic and explanatory approach filled with GIFs.

(you can see it here: http://eepurl.com/bhnZ1z)

Genious or Stupid? I don’t know. Time will tell.

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