Sowing Too Much
A year ago I had a lot going on, but I still wanted to have a garden. It’s rare that I make things smaller than I intended so the garden ended up being kinda large. I planted the usual things plus a few rows of corn. Things were growing well, but we hit some hard times in terms of weather. The plants needed a little more attention. There was a heat streak and a minor drought, which happens in life. This happened and I was pretty busy with work and I thought I could safely pay less attention to the garden. Well, the plants got a lot of heat and not enough water. They needed more resources for a very short amount of time, but all my resources and time was being spent elsewhere. The corn did as nature intended. It and probably a few other things flowered early to make sure it could create seeds and live to see another year. What this looks like is very small, nearly useless corn. This year there is no garden. Just minimal landscaping out front and a few potted plants inside. Nothing that I can’t easily handle plus maybe 10%. Things are going well. Nothing fell apart and I’m fine, the plants are fine and business is fine. The moral of the story is, if you plant more than you can handle and rough times hit, you will have to sacrifice. The good news is, it’s a great way to see and prove your priorities. The bad news is, you’ve wasted a lot of time on something that didn’t turn out. With that in mind, consider outsources whatever you can if you really want to expand and have the brains to not bite off more than you can chew. I see a lot of people lose a lot of time and progress in their life doing this. This is PARTICULARLY true, if you’re biting off something outside your immediate area of expertise. Keep in mind that at the moment Coca-Cola has 60 flavors around the world, but they only sell 4 flavors in the US (8 if you include the sugar free versions of the 4). Look at any other business. They could offer the same number of varieties of their products, but they don’t. Why should you?
Time in the Market Beats Timing the Market
Another way of putting that is: He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. When it comes to websites, and doing anything on the web, waiting for the perfect time to do something is a sure fire way to lose. It’s true there are times when you should wait, but I think it’s also true that it’s impossible to determine the perfect time to launch. So while you may have good reason to not make a website now, you’re never going to have the perfect reason and timing to launch and the truth is, the longer you wait to launch, the further you’ll fall (and stay) behind. There are always going to be ups and downs, there’s always going to b rain and drought. You can’t avoid that. In all the years I’ve worked on websites, the people who act on things get ahead. Period. If you are waiting for doors to open, start preparing to go through those doors. Walk up to the door. Get your ducks in order. Don’t use it as an excuse. If the door is shut, it won’t open. I’ve found this to be true on some projects. I make the project and it just sits there, but because I made the project and prepared, even if it’s a couple years later, the door opens and I look pretty good having already been prepared for it to be opened. I once made a website for a very specific purpose in Chile. I finished it, and it works and it sat there for about 4 years working but not really generating income. I moved back to Pennsylvania and I met someone who needed that exact thing done in the same region. So it should come as no surprise that we are now partners in this venture. I prepared, I knocked on the door and it opened and I was ready. When you go into the market, when you sow seeds and/or when you make a website you should do it as soon as possible and do the best job possible. Don’t sow too much more than you can handle and don’t invest more than you can afford. You can start small and then add an extra 10% to your project give yourself a little exercise and stretch your boundaries. Here’s a quiz for fun! https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/tests/career/procrastination-test-abridged
