We gave my youngest daughter the middle name: “Jane”.
Jane’s a nice name.
And pops up in phrases like: “I’m just your average Jane…”
But in our family it has a rather special meaning.
For us “Jane” means: “speedy”.
You see…
My wife’s aunt (child number 3) is called “Jane”.
That’s where we got the name from. It was a very apt name.
And the “speedy” thing?
Well…
Jane’s mum — my wife’s grandmother — was at full-term with her pregnancy.
She got up in the middle of the night for a quick toilet visit…
And out came Jane!
Zooming forward 4 decades…
One rainy Friday night my wife and I are at home with our 4 and 6 year olds.
She’s at full-term pregnancy with with our 3rd child.
Bet you can’t guess where this is going? 🤔
Let’s just say…
We unexpectely welcomed our new baby into the world on our bathroom floor.
Fortunately, it was a little slower than her great aunt’s grand entrance onto the stage of life.
The paramedic got there in the nick of time to guide things.
But still…
Less than an hour from start of contractions to “hello!”.
It’s like in business…
Sometimes those “Jane” moments bring something joyful into your world.
Have you heard the catchphrase “money loves speed?”
The gist is:
It’s a good idea to not wait around forever perfecting your product or service before putting it out into the world.
It’s about the 80/20 rule:
80% of results typically come from 20% of your efforts.
So best to get it in front of your market… and quickly.
It’s why there’s a trend to “minimum viable products” nowadays. Just getting things out as fast as possible into the market to start testing.
If they do OK then tweaks can be made. And tested again. And again.
If it’s put out there and gets little or no uptake… well, maybe it’s not what your market needs. So it needs to be parked… possibly permanently.
No sense spending time “perfecting” something… only to have it bomb.
Same thing goes for you and I in our freelancing businesses.
Whether it’s your product or service offering.
Or things like your website.
It can pay to just get the minimum viable thing out there. Putting in that key 20% of the effort to get it moving.
When it’s “live”, results can be measured. And decisions made based on data that’s collected.
But if you had pressed on with the rest of the 80% to make it “perfect”…
Can you imagine the the emotional pull to just keep flogging that dead horse… because of putting in so much time and energy?
Money loves speed.
And there’s bound to be something in your business you can apply this to.
You know? …
The thing that you’re trying to get simply “perfect” before launching.
When really… you could be brave and quickly put it out there to start testing.
(Fear of failure be damned!)
What ACTIONS do you need to take to make this happen?
P.S. My solution to getting websites quickly built and live is here. [affiliate link].
Ready to build your email list? Go here…
EmailForTheWin.com
Chris Milham