Why build new things?
Lessons I learned building my own business
So recently there’s been a lot of buzz about Drupal scoring 1 million users. Congrats! Even though WordPress is still ahead, it is with no doubt a very big thing for Drupal’s community and it must feel pretty darn good.
However, all of this hype got me thinking — our markets are full of products yet somehow people tend to build even more. Like, the market of web content management systems is ruled by major pros like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Magento, TYPO3 and others, but there are dozens of new CMSs and frameworks born everyday everywhere around the globe. How come we keep on creating instead of just using what’s already there?
The unsettling human nature
The answer for me was the unsettling human nature. We always want the -er: bigger, better, faster, stronger, longer…Yet, according to stoicism, this insatiable desire for MORE of everything is not a moral failing but a natural evolutionary program. Thing is, stoics believe you have to learn to be happy with what you have. But what you have is not always the best you can get.
From here I will proceed telling things through my own experience which might seem a bit technical. But don’t get thrown away by that. Thing is, the same rules apply to every creator, regardless of what he or she is making — from tangled-up code to a new lasagna recipe.
I was using but not enjoying
In my early twenties I was full of youthful maximalism to have the best or nothing at all (to be fair, I still consider myself to be that way). It was evident in both my personal and professional life. As a young developer working at a web agency, most of all I wanted a simple and efficient tool to work with.
I’ve already had some experience with Joomla, Xoops, Magento and osCommerce but most of the time I was working with Drupal and WordPress. I used the first one for my personal projects since it met the criteria of flexibility. And I did all of the client work on WordPress because at the time it seemed like the only option with a fairly simple user interface. Still, I considered none of them to be a suitable tool for a person who’s not so tech savvy.
Being a programmer and knowing how to deal with the arising technical problems (system updates, plugin compatibility and bug-infested code in general) kept me neglectful for awhile. But having endless s.o.s conversations with my clients and seeing their sites abandoned with mediocre or no content gave me the chills. Companies were investing money but getting nothing fair in return. Unfortunately, neither I nor my colleagues could find a tool that combined simple programming with simple content management.
The tables (we) have turned
That’s when the inner-fuss began. Together with a few like-minded code nerds we decided that settling for smaller things in life is getting us nowhere. We were like those people famously described by Jack Kerouac,the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time…
In 2007 we started creating a website building and management tool for ourselves just to make OUR work and life easier. But it turned out to be a game changer (as the media put it). After two years of constant development and testings we had a stable product: ImpressPages — a new open-source web CMS based on drag&drop feature. We released the alpha version and boom! Results exceeded all expectations and the amount of good feedback encouraged us to dig deeper.
Fake it till you make it
It took four more years to receive an investment from a venture capital and I am not going to whine about how time and energy consuming this whole process was. My wife wasn’t happy, that’s for sure. I mean, I was recording promo videos on our honeymoon. There were also times when my confidence propeller wouldn’t turn and everything seemed worthless.
Now we are counting the seventh year of our existence (starting with the idea) and it’s exciting to look back on how much we’ve grown. We are operating a stable business with more than 47k users and recently released a 4.0 version. With every bit of improvement I feel more self confident and happy. It is amazing how out of utter dissatisfaction we created a tool that was common sense in theory but did not exist in practice.
So what’s the moral? It’s not always smart to trust that youthful maximalism. First, learn the most about the existing tools to find a solution. Yet, if you still face a problem that is a real real pain in the ass and nothing can solve it, take action! Invest your time, money, heart and soul. Be patient. You never know what big things life has ahead of you. It’s better to try and fail than fail to even try.
10 lessons I learned when creating a business from scratch
1. Do business, not startup
With the recent hype of startups (especially in Europe) people tend to overuse this word. Every project, every idea is named as ‘startup’. Startups have a very unique business culture built around them, thus they’re not suitable for every idea. If you choose a startup way, understand the market is big enough as it is and make sure you know how to grow exponentially. Otherwise, just do business, earn money and you’ll have much less options to fail.
2. Idea is worth nothing
Everything’s already created. All you can do now is take it and make it better. Don’t get caught up on brainstorming a totally new bike model, rather imagine what you can do to make the existing one better. Remember, it’s one idea that actually works (even though it’s not super unique) is worth more than 10 extraordinary creative ideas floating around.
3. Set up clear goals
Strategy is crucial in building a successful business — you have to know where you want to be and most importantly, how you’re gonna get there. Don’t expect other people to understand your business if you haven’t figured it out for yourself. Once you do that, make sure your everyday work gets you closer to your goal.
4. Team equals infinity
You can have 20 mediocre programmers working for you or you can have two really passionate ones who will do the same (and even better) work. It’s not about how many people you can boss around, it’s about having the best people to work for with you.
5. Learn to speak
I know it sounds silly, but only a handful of people really know how to do it. It’s not just about letting words out of your mouth — as a businessman you have to know how to tell a story, persuade, how to ask and how to answer. Remember that you will be dealing with a lot of different people, so practice pitching to your closest friends, family, team.
6. Show off
Your product is not gonna sell itself. Unless it’s sliced bread, I guess. Participate as much as you can — market fairs, public speeches, online forums… Spread the word and ask for feedback.
7. Consider your target market
Coming from a small country like Lithuania, I always looked out to global market. I knew my product was made for it and it had a lot of impact on my business decisions — from communication to design. Still, if you’re from a major country like USA, look out for alternatives — while locals are testing your product out of patriotism, foreigners can give you true insights.
8. Start from small
It’s always easier to eat one bite at a time — the same with business. Find a niche that your product fills up really well. Then you can grow. Remember, it’s better to have a 100 true users than a 10.000 fake ones.
9. Money helps
Having a company doesn’t mean having a business. Lots of people start by creating infrastructure — credit, office, staff, etc. What you really need to start with is income. First, know if your project will generate money, only then pay the bills. Various crowdfunding techniques (like Kickstarter) are extremely useful to test your idea.
10. Fail quick
No one’s perfect and it’s ok if you made some bad decisions. The important part is how fast do you recover from them. There’s been time in life when I was on the verge of quitting. But having a clear strategy and criteria helped to answer the crucial question “is it time yet?”. It wasn’t.
BONUS
Don’t believe anything others say (including me). Though it doesn’t mean you don’t have to listen — learning from other people’s mistakes is better than making your own. Combine their experience and knowledge with your own ideas and insights. Every business is different, thus no rule is universal.
Thanks for reading! It’s a bit TL;DR, so I appreciate your time.
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