Start Making Something

From finding the right idea to putting it out there

One thing I learned is to never assume what others will like or respond to. Trying to determine someone else’s problem based on assumptions is like stabbing in the dark hoping to hit the jackpot. You need to understand and relate to your target segment or audience or whatever. Market studies focus groups or data analytics are great tools to get those valuable insights.

Another more straightforward way to getting those insights is doing something you want to use. Write the book you want to read, make the music you want to listen to, paint the picture you want to look at, solve the problem you want to resolve, in other words, scratch your own itch.

When you start creating something, you’ll have to make the call on thousands of tiny decisions, and when you scratch your own itch, not only you make something you care about, you also know the ideal solution you’re trying to come up with and those decisions become obvious.

Ideas last forever! As soon as you come up with an idea, you can easily capture it, store it in an Evernote notebook, and bequeath it for generations to come.

Do you know what doesn’t last forever? The energy behind it!

Inspiration has an expiry date; you can’t just put it on a shelf and come back to it later. It will fade and become a soulless idea you’re not pumped about anymore.

When you’re inspired to do something, dive on it immediately. It’s like free momentum, you’ll be able to do much more work lesser time than usual all while you know … being inspired to do so! An opportunity too big to miss out on if you want to get things done.

Think your ideas are valuable? Try selling them and see how much money you’ll make. Nothing is probably the answer. Ideas are cheap and everyone got plenty of them. Until you take action and start making something, your ideas are just that, ideas.

When it comes to entrepreneurship, pitching your idea is such a small part of the process it’s almost negligible, what matters is how well you execute afterward.

When you want something bad enough, you make the time for it, as simple as that.

Don’t weasel your way out of it by making excuses. Doing what you find meaningful is your responsibility regardless of your daily obligations.

This doesn’t mean you have to kill yourself over it either. Try getting rid of useless activities and squeezing in a few extra hours every day, just enough to get something going.

Also, and this is a big one, don’t wait for the perfect moment “I’m too young, I’m too young, I’m not ready yet.” The perfect moment will never come there will always be something so get on it already!

I often find myself flexing my brain to come up with the perfect solution even when the problem can be solved with a simple, mundane one. Don’t do that!

Get the job done and move on already. Besides, you can always come back to it later and make it great.

Doing a good enough job is always preferable than wasting time and resources or even worse, abandoning because you don’t have the resources for that complex solution.

Always keep in mind why you’re doing what you’re doing. It’s important to have a mission and stand for something.

Another important thing is to get real with your mission. Don’t write it down or try to explain what your work is all about. Show it to the world! Your mission and what you stand for should be communicated throughout your work. There is nothing more annoying than reading a company’s mission statement saying, “they have your best interest at heart, they offer the best customer service, they are the leader in the industry, their products are the highest quality on the market, they offer the lowest price…” and you’re sitting there reading this crap while it’s clearly disconnected from reality. What you stand for should be understood without you having to say a single word about it.

If you’re not willing to share your work, or part of your work for free, chances are you didn’t build something worth sharing.

Drug dealers get it right, they know that what they’re selling is so addictive that they’re willing to let you taste it for free. Same goes for Apps, more often than not, they offer free memberships with limited access but enough “can’t miss features” that you’ll be ready to pay extra for the full versions.

When making something meaningful, it should be so good and bring so much value to other people that if they’re introduced to it, they will want to come back for more. It’s also a great way to know if people are receptive to your creation in general.

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