Starting small…
Don’t try to build that super complicated solution when you have no clue about the mechanics, tools and processes you need to be able to sell that thing.
Start small instead.
A lot of people (including myself) sometimes get jealous of the people who make millions with the simplest solutions.
Like some kind of widget or something.
But what I didn’t understand back then is that selling a product follows the same mechanics, tools and processes.
Over and over again.
No matter how big or small your idea.
It’s always the same stuff.
Sure, they’re slightly different.
But overall it’s very similar.
And you gotta get those right.
You gotta get those basic mechanics, tools and processes right.
Or you’ll never get anything right.
And those people selling those widgets got those mechanics right.
So the problem here is that we (including myself) want to build something big.
Something world changing.
Something super complex.
We’re too good, too smart or what not to build or create something simple.
But the only way to build something big is to build something small first.
To start small.
Really small.
And simple.
Jeff Bezos started selling books online.
Super simple.
Super small.
And not complicated at all.
And now he’s the richest man on the planet.
Or was. For a few hours at least.
Here’s the thing…
If you don’t know a damn thing about the mechanics, tools or processes to sell your stuff, then it just won’t work out.
And when you have no clue about the mechanics and you spend 16 hours a day building your super complex and world changing product, service or what not, you just don’t have the time, patience or energy to learn and figure out these basic mechanics.
It just doesn’t work.
And you don’t learn these things in a text book.
Or in a class room.
You only learn them by doing.
Just like pretty much everything else in life.
So instead of building that super big new thing, build that super small and simple thing first.
Put it out there on the market.
And see what happens.
Build a simple Shopify store.
And dropship products from Aliexpress for example.
And then try everything you can to sell those products.
Try to figure out how to send traffic to those products without losing money.
Trust me, it’s harder than you might think.
But the mechanics are the same.
The mechanics are always the same.
Use that small project to learn the basics, the tools and the mechanics of how to sell stuff.
The micro and the macro.
And then once you got that right you can go ahead and level up.
Richard Branson started selling Christmas trees.
And now he’s sending people to the moon.
Elon Musk built two companies totally from scratch and sold both of them before he started 4 world changing companies at the same time.
Or 5.
I don’t even know.
They both learned the micro and the macro first.
The mechanics.
By doing.
And not by building super complex solutions first.
Start small.
Because the only way to build something big is to build something small first.
Originally published at yanngirard.typepad.com.

