Are you caught down the research rabbit hole?
Data is only data unless you take action
This morning I was reminded by entrepreneur Ole Lehmann who writes a newsletter about solo entrepreneurship about the danger of endlessly looking for meaning in data, instead of taking action.
As he says, ““Research and testing” creates the illusion of progress while your competitors are actually shipping products and making money.””
Instead of going down the research rabbit hole, he asks “What specific action can I take with the information TODAY.” Now, thanks to easy web build tools, the ability to create digital downloads with ease, build courses in an instant, there’s no excuse for not executing.
You know more than you think. Ole says, “The best ideas happen pre-data trend.” If you know your market, your intuition might be picking up on trends before the research has caught up. Your advantage is being first, not catching up.
Execute fast, fail fast. A one page business plan is enough for you to figure out if there’s an opportunity for your product or service. Ole says, you no longer need a 30 page business plan, because in the amount of time you are spending on that document, you could be out shipping your MVP (minimal viable product). If it’s not working, than move on.
If you want to look for multiple examples of entrepreneurs taking action, check out the multiple tech threads on Reddit, where followers are more than happy to test out new software from developers in return for free access. My friend is currently helping a team in Silicon Valley with a new web app builder. They are giving him millions of free credits in exchange for him agreeing for them to use his finished project for a case study. What he has been able to achieve in 4 days, is incredible.
But you don’t need to be a tech bro to launch a new product or service. You simply need to get on with it, and stop going down the research rabbit hole. Data can be incredibly comforting especially if you’re the type of person who is scared of what others think.
I’ll leave you with a final thought from Ole, “Instead of clinging to spreadsheets for false comfort, embrace the chaos of creation and trust that you’ll figure it out as you go.”
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