You never get a second chance, or do you?
When developing a new business line or launch, which philosophy do you subscribe to?
- Create an MVP – (Minimum Viable Product)
- Beta Now, Better Later
- You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.
If there were an angel business coach on my shoulder, they’d likely be whispering in my ear the third option, “you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” It’s the one I’ve heard all my life.
As was noted in a Psychology Today article, “When people see you for the first time, their impressions form instantly on the basis of the visual cues your face and body provide. Within seconds, an impression of you is registered by others on the basis of your gender and race. They then go on to guess your approximate age. The final cue to the impression you make on others is provided by your appearance and how attractive they judge you to be.”
As business owners and entrepreneurs, this can be paralyzing. It can keep us at the drawing board refining our idea; making sure every “I” is dotted, and “T” is crossed. It can keep us from acting on our vision for fear that it isn’t perfect, and we only have one shot at it! Our customers will pass by our storefront or website just once – and if they don’t like it, that’s it; you’re through!
“You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.”
I was thinking about this adage recently as it seems to be in direct conflict to other launch philosophies (more on that in a minute)… When I googled it, I discovered it was originally attributed to Will Rodgers – a humorist and vaudeville actor who lived at the turn of the 20th century. Certainly, there is truth to the statement in certain circumstances, but I question its veracity as a business philosophy, especially given its origin.
I’ve seen too many entrepreneurs get stuck in that mindset that it prevents them from actually starting. They get stuck in planning mode, trying to get the business plan just so, that they never start. And starting something is better than not starting at all.
Beta Now, Better Later (an expression I heard from Courtney Foster-Donahue) feels like the perfect antidote. It plays off the idea of “Minimum Viable Products” (MVPs) in the Lean Startup by Eric Reis.
“The lesson of the MVP is that any additional work beyond what was required to start learning is waste, no matter how important it might have seemed at the time.”
In other words, we don’t know for sure what will work and what won’t until we try something. Farm-preneurs know that something always goes sideways. All the planning in the world won’t prevent that, and we can’t let that prevent us from starting.
The Lean Startup methodology is “build-measure-learn.”
- Build – get the MVP out in the world.
- Measure – get feedback from customers on what’s working and what’s not.
- Learn – take the feedback, make improvements, and get an improved version out there.
Beta now; better later.
As you think about your next opportunity, whether it’s entering a new market or developing a new product line, I encourage you to get started, and learn along the way. You can refine and adjust as you go. Rarely will you have a product that’s perfect out of the gate… better to get something out there and remain agile to make adjustments along the way. You’ll end up with something far better than if you tried to get it perfect on the first try.
