We're Not Doing a Startup

We’re not

“doing a startup”How to cut through the hype and build your side

project into a profitable business.

Rachel Andrew, #revolutionconf 2014

Friday, 26 September 14

grabaperch.com


G.K. Chesterton

“I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.”


http://thinkexist.com/quotation/i_owe_my_success_to_having_listened_respectfully/146292.html








This is a marathon, not a 5K.



It’s not about the money

(until it is)


Getting started

Choosing the perfect product to bootstrap as a

side-project.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/7276841268




Walt Disney

“The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing.”


• for an audience you are already part of

• that can get to a shippable version 1 quickly

• that solves a problem people will pay to have solved

• that does not need a lot of traction to be useful

• that has existing competition

A product ...


A product for an audience you are already part of.


Solve problems for your own community.


Amy Hoy

“Are you a Ruby developer? Then serve Ruby developers. Are you a UX designer? Serve UX designers.”


The worst that could have happened with Perch? No-one would want it but we’d have a useful tool for our

business.


With a track record in a community you will already have trust.


A product that can get to a shippable version 1 quickly.


John Radoff

“The goal of a startup is to find the sweet-spot where minimum product and viable product meet – get people to fall in love with you.”


To launch with a small product, you need to find a problem that can be

solved with a small product.


Perch v.1

• A simple content editor

• No way to add new pages

• No API

• Images could be uploaded - but not resized


The Problem

Client requests that an already developed static site be made

editable via a CMS.


The Solution

A simple CMS that turned static pages into editable pages by way of

dropping in a couple of PHP tags.


A product that solves a problem that people are happy to pay to

have solved.


Money is the only validation


A product that does not need a lot of traction to be useful.


“Social” or “community” products need a large user base to succeed.


Choose a product that is as useful to customer #1 as customer #1000


A product that has existing competition.


Perch competitors at launch

• WordPress

• ExpressionEngine

• CushyCMS

• PageLime

• Joomla

• Drupal


What problem is your competition NOT solving? Build it.


New concepts will require you to educate potential customers as to why they even need your product.


Finding the time

How to make time for side-projects.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mybigtrip/6111406




Malcolm S. Forbes

“One worthwhile task carried to a successful conclusion is worth half-a-hundred half-finished tasks.”


Sir John Lubbock

“In truth, people can generally make time for what they choose to do; it is not really the time but the will that is lacking.”


Get set up to be able to pick up and work on your side-project quickly -

whenever the time is available.


Your product must be a first-class citizen alongside your other work.


Set aside time and plan in advance what you will do with it


Diana Scharf Hunt

“Goals are dreams with deadlines”


There is power in setting a goal, writing it down, putting a date on it


How to get started

• Choose your goal

• Define what it is you are going to create

• Put a date on it.


Brian Casel http://casjam.com/the-cascading-to-do-list-or-how-to-get-big-things-done/

“In a nutshell, the idea is to start with the end-goal in mind, then divide it into smaller and smaller increments. Plan all of the actions in detail beforehand, then get to work.”


http://casjam.com/the-cascading-to-do-list-or-how-to-get-big-things-done/

http://casjam.com/the-cascading-to-do-list-or-how-to-get-big-things-done/

Be realistic about how much you can achieve. Feeling as if you are falling

behind can demotivate you.


If there is not enough time ...

• Either revise your end date

• Or, remove elements of the project - pushing them into a post-launch phase.


Be ruthless in cutting features that can be added post-launch


The “missing” features at launch will seem far more important to you than

to your customers.


Describe the product as it is now.

Sell the solution.


• Start Small

• Get feedback from paying customers

• Improve and add to your product based on their needs balanced by your vision.


Minimum Viable Infrastructures


Own Your Own Data


Launch and beyond

Managing a growing side-project alongside an

existing job or business.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall




Winston Churchill

“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”


• We launched Perch at the end of May 2009

• At launch we were still 100% booked out on client projects

• Income from Perch was initially reinvested into Perch

• January 2013 we made the decision to stop taking on new client work

Our timeline


A successful side-project should be given more time as it represents a

higher % of your income.


Not making a profit?

• Are you pricing too cheaply?

• Are you reliant on expensive services?

• Are you attracting customers who need a lot of support?


The slower growth curve of bootstrapped products gives you time to fix problems before they

become BIG problems.


Never promise a specific timeframe to customers


When your product is a side-project you have even more things that could

cause you to push back a feature.


We don’t publish a roadmap

• It allows us to be flexible and react to customer needs and changing trends in web design.

• It means that customers are not relying on the launch of feature X in order to complete a project.

• It means that we can hold back a feature until we are absolutely sure it won’t cause anyone a problem.


Use Cases not Feature Requests


Find general solutions that will benefit many customers rather than

adding very specific features


Understanding the problem means we can help the customer now and

optimize the solution later.


Delight customers by solving their problems and letting them know

when you have done so


Protect the Core Use Case


Your product will benefit by being owned by someone who will say no.


Make Frequent Small Releases


Small releases

• Fewer changes = fewer things to go wrong

• Easier to isolate the issue if a problem does occur

• Get features to customers more quickly

• For our customers, less of a dramatic change that they need to communicate to their clients


Don’t be led by a noisy minority


Seek out the opinion of those customers you never hear from. The

happy majority are often silent.


Marketing

How to tell people about your product, when you have no money to burn.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/brent_nashville/5284764031/




Seth Godin

“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.”


You have made something that genuinely solves a problem. Go tell

people about it!


Pre-launch of Perch

• A month before we put up a landing page and email signup form

• About 500 people signed up

• We emailed the list on launch and those people represented enough sales on launch day to pay back all pre-launch costs.


Your reach will give you your initial customers. Then what?


Content Marketing


Write blog posts and articles on the things your potential customer is

interested in, not about your product.


Sponsorship


Perch sponsoring the Unfinished Business podcast


Paid Advertising


If you cannot track it do not pay for it


Target the “long tail” keywords


Research smaller sites visited by your ideal customer, advertise on

those less expensive sites.


People love Perch - http://grabaperch.com/people-love-perch


http://grabaperch.com/people-love-perch

http://grabaperch.com/people-love-perch

http://tractionbook.com




Create your own definition of success


Revenue that is not worth chasing for a 60 person business can be life-

changing for the solo founder.


Is the grass greener on the product side?


The work is always worth it.


Thank you

Rachel Andrew

@rachelandrew

http://rachelandrew.co.uk/presentations/not-doing-a-startup


http://rachelandrew.co.uk

http://rachelandrew.co.uk