SMS #5: How to Change Your Life with Spare Change

…Without Spending a Dime of It

Before reading on…Note that this article by no means represents a comprehensive business plan. Rather, it is the foundations of a full model that I give you complete authority and ownership to build from. In plain English, if you’d like to ‘steal my startup’, go ahead.

One of my proudest achievements to date is a personal project called ‘myChapter’: an app for fraternities and sororities to better track their statistics and dispense information throughout their organizations.

Was it a flawless masterpiece? Absolutely not. Version 1.0 had more bugs than a New York City pizzeria. Even now the app still has some UX issues.

Well…did it have a large user base? Nope. My fraternity might continue to use it but I don’t see any other organizations getting in line.

Then what are you patting yourself on the back for??? Well, disembodied voice, I was proud of myself because I’d done something that was not only difficult to do, but also very time-consuming. Making the ‘myChapter’ app required a level of discipline and consistency that, until that point, I’d never demonstrated.

It took 6 months to complete! Most days I’d wake up at 6 am and code for as long as my schedule would permit before heading off to work at the incubator, attend extracurricular events, or (when it was absolutely necessary) go to class.

Prior to taking on the project, all my past self-motivated endeavours (enrolling in online classes, attempting to write a fantasy novel, trying to start a YouTube channel, etc.) were often left incomplete when my short-term spurts of inspiration inevitably ran dry. Even in the projects I’ve taken on since ‘myChapter’, I’ve failed to demonstrate the same level of dedication.

After some research and self-examination, I’ve finally identified the driving force that kept me going throughout those long, difficult months: a deadline with stakes.

I had told people about the app I was building — people that I didn’t want to let down — and promised that it would be ready to use by a specific date. Each day I delayed launch was one day fewer that I’d have to test the app with my fraternity before I graduated and was forced to move on with my life.

You’ve likely felt the same trend in your own undertakings: when you’ve got skin in the game and something to lose, you work as hard as necessary to get it done. But when self-imposed deadlines are staked by nothing more than your own mental calendar, the due dates get pushed back.

What if there were a way to strategically simulate high pressure, high priority conditions in our personal endeavours?

There’s an opportunity here…

Our assumptions:

• People are more compliant with deadlines when faced with consequences
• People will voluntarily impose consequences on themselves if the result is increased productivity.
• Loss of money is a sufficiently motivating consequence for missing a deadline.

Before Reading On…Note that this article by no means represents a comprehensive business plan. Rather, it is the foundations of a full model that I give you complete authority and ownership to build from. In plain English, if you’d like to ‘steal my startup’, go ahead.

ELEVATOR PITCH 💬

On January 1st, what silent promise did you make to yourself as a ‘new year’s resolution’? Were you going to quit smoking? See your abs by summer? Learn how to code?

I’m assuming many of these promises — promises that, at the time of their making, were of the utmost importance to you — were left unfulfilled.

And yet somehow, when you have that philosophy paper due tomorrow worth 40% of your grade, you prioritize its completion over food, sleep, and sex. You don’t even like philosophy!

You are not lazy. You are not broken. What your philosophy paper has that your new year's resolution does not is a guarantee of consequences should you fail to complete it.

You have it within you to make your dreams a reality, but what you lack is the proper framework for keeping you motivated.

A framework that BetYouWill provides.

Put your money where your mouth is and watch yourself transform as a result.

We believe you can do it. In fact, we bet you will.

VALUE PROPOSITION💡

There are three important principles that BetYouWill leverages to create value for its users.

Losses Loom Larger than Gains

“Loss Aversion” (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979) is the primary principle upon which this business is built.

To further drive home my earlier analogy, you put more time and effort into your philosophy paper than you do for your ‘get in shape by summer’ diet because the loss of marks, money, time and personal pride associated with failing a class serves as much greater motivation than the potential gain of seeing a few extra muscles lining your stomach when you hit the beach.

On BetYouWill, users define their goal, set their deadline, and propose actions for proving that they have completed their goal.

Users will also be asked to pay forward a certain amount of money (a quantity of their choosing) that they will only have returned to them if they provide ‘proof of completion’. The logic here being:

The bigger the bet one places on him/herself = the more they stand to lose = the greater their motivation to complete their goal

After reviewing the user’s proposition (making sure the goal is safe/appropriate and that the ‘proof of completion’ terms are accountable ) the BetYouWill team will either approve or reject the bet.

How users can prove that they have completed their goal depends on the nature of the goal.

• Routine-Based Goals. If the user’s goal is to build a new habit (working out three times weekly, reading 10 pages a day etc.), they will be expected to submit a photo at the agreed-upon frequency (daily, thrice weekly, etc.) of them in the act of performing the habit.
• Results-Based Goals. If the user’s goal is to achieve a certain result by a given deadline (complete an online degree by the end of the year, learn how to dunk by next month), they can submit documentation (a copy of their certificate of completion for their online degree, a video of them dunking, etc.) for review.

Given that users may be unwilling to share their photos and private documentation with the community, BetYouWill will have to employ a team that screens ‘proof of completion’ photos/documents within 1 business day. Note that the company should have a stringent policy of anonymity and deletion of submitted photos/documents following their review.

As you can imagine, this system of verification does not work for all types of goals. It also leaves a lot of room for manipulation. I suggest checking out the ‘risks and shortcomings’ section to hear my thoughts on the matter.

Gain Together, Lose Together

Tricia Leahey (psychologist and researcher at The Miriam Hospital’s Weight Control) investigated a team-based weight loss competition in Rhode Island and found that the more people reported feeling peer influence to lose weight and exercise more, the more weight they lost.

This ‘Halo Effect’ is leveraged on BetYouWill through sponsor-facilitated contests. By competing alongside other participants, one can be further motivated to make progress towards their goal by observing the progress of their peers and engaging with them to seek advice and encouragement.

These communities can be moderated by the representatives of the sponsor who issued the contest to ensure that interactions between participants remain positive.

Happiness = Reality - Expectations

Dr. Robb Rutledge, a senior research associate at University College London (UCL), led a study that revealed an inverse relationship between expectations and happiness. This is often simplified with the helpful equation: Happiness = Reality - Expectations

So how does this relate to BetYouWill?

I, along with all people I’ve polled on the matter, often assign unrealistic timelines to my personal projects. I underestimate project difficulty and overestimate my future productivity. I start off feeling proud and optimistic but when my expected ‘2-hour task’ enters into its 16th hour, I start chastising myself for being an unproductive pile of human garbage (an extreme example, but you get the point).

The BetYouWill system of betting on yourself to complete tasks encourages users to (1) appraise their time appropriately and set realistic timelines; and (2) work more diligently to complete tasks on schedule — therefore meeting/exceeding expectations and leading to an increase in happiness.

REVENUE STREAMS💰

BetYouWill has a couple of atypical streams of income worth delving into.

Bets from Incomplete Goals

When a user fails to complete their goal by the deadline— or, at least, fails to submit ‘proof of completion’ photos/documentation — the already-received bet money is retained by BetYouWill and is officially listed as revenue.

As you can imagine, there will likely be more than a few disgruntled users who will be very upset at having lost 20 dollars on top of not achieving their goal. Here are some recommendations I have for making the system more forgiving:

• Progressively decrement the value of the bet. In the days following a user’s deadline, instead of taking all their money outright, offer them the opportunity to submit ‘proof of completion’ late. Each successive day that they delay further, BetYouWill keeps a percentage of their bet until eventually, all the bet money belongs to the business as revenue.
• Notify regularly. Do your due diligence and notify the user of upcoming deadlines often. Emails and app-enabled push notifications should do.
• Offer goal extensions. Send an automated check-in halfway through their goal’s lifespan, offering them the option of pushing back their deadline (they cannot alter the size of their bet, only its due date).

These practices will surely cut down revenues in the short-term but exemplifying good virtues will better the company’s reputation and hopefully, lead to more business in the long-term.

Sponsored Contests

Public contests are an organic brand-building tactic used by many large-scale companies to endear themselves to the public and get their products into the hands of consumers.

Many smaller-scale companies, however, do not have a large enough online presence to promote their contests nor the framework to accept and manage submissions. Companies may, therefore, see value in hosting contests on BetYouWill and offering prizes to succeeding participants.

Got a workout supplement you’d like to promote? Host a one-month workout contest where the participant with the most impressive before and after transformation gets a year’s supply of your supplement.

Just launched a new software tool for app developers? Host a coding contest offering free subscriptions to your service for participants who make creative apps with your software.

The right to host a contest on BetYouWill will, obviously, come with a price tag.

RISKS & SHORTCOMINGS🤷🏽‍♂️

Every business idea has its risks and shortcomings. Here are some for BetYouWill.

• Users can and will game the system

If you send in a photo of yourself at the gym, does that really prove that you worked out? There’s any number of ways that users can game the system and it will happen whether you like it or not.

However, it's worth considering that Audible, Indigo, and countless other businesses offer ‘no-questions-asked’ return policies that consumers abuse all the time. They maintain these policies nonetheless. Why? Because, more often than not, they still profit from your business in the long-term.

• Users who do not meet their deadline will have a VERY bad time.

Not following through on your goal sucks. Not following through on your goal AND losing 20 bucks really sucks!

I’d recommend offering outstanding customer support and allowing upset users who contact the company to have some of their bet money returned to them with very little resistance. We’re out to motivate people, not ruin their lives.

• Gambling licensure may be needed.

It’s entirely possible that this business could never see the light of day — depending on where it’s founded and registered — due to legal issues. For Canadians, I recommend looking at ICLG for more info.

• Who pays the little fees?

Online transactions will always come with small processing fees.

If the user pays these fees, then they are losing a little bit of money even when they succeed in completing their goal. However, if BetYouWill pays the fees, then the business loses money on users who succeed in completing their goals.

To make a decision on how to handle this, some data will be needed on what percentage of users complete their goals under these conditions. If it’s possible for BetYouWill to eat these fees while maintaining profitability, I’d recommend going that route.

Thanks for taking the time. Click here if you’d like a free copy of my new book ‘From Idea to Incubator’ and if you’d like to show your support, follow me on Medium!

Until next time…