Developer with commitment issues
I just had a hard conversation with my girlfriend because I'm about to drop my current idea in progress (wisertag.com) and register a new domain for another idea. I paid £1000 to present Wisertag tomorrow at WebSummit 2019, and she has a point because I never stick to ideas, even after putting many days/months of work...
If I try to analyse my psyche restrospectively, I think my problem is that I lose motivation because what I enjoy and know how to do is build, and not market and sell a product. Even though I know that validation is the most important step, I tend to just run my IDE and start coding without any kind of validation. And then I find it extremely challenging to cold email, call and talk to people to sell the product I worked so hard to build. Eventually, I lose momentum and just drop the project... This happened to me many times already and every time is a frustrating failure.
Not sure what to expect from this post. I guess I just wanted to share my frustration and maybe gather other opinions, workarounds and tips.
It is called "Shiny object syndrome" and I know it very well :-((((
Unfortunately, there is no cure except sticking to your next idea. Unless you do it you will never be a businessman, you will be just an amateur.
And unfortunately, developers are in the group of very high risk - just because of their's nature to research, dig, create. Every developer who wants to base his/her business on his/her code dreams that his/her code will sell itself... but it happens so rarely...
Things that can help:
Good luck!
This is good advice! How do you know you should stick to an idea and not continue the quest of finding the right product?
I just can share my own experience. I tried many different ideas in a short period of time - to see the people's reaction and my own feelings. I didn't code, I just created landing pages and watched. 1-2 weeks, then switched to another idea. I realized at some moment that I was returning to the same idea over and over again. I decided to stick to it and probably I was right.
Try to sell it. Talk to customers / users. It's way more valuable now that you have something specific that you can sell them. This is a new starting point for you to experiment and get feedback, to pivot and build something that people really want.
Where are you at with wisertag? Have you tried selling it?
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Addition:
The 'new idea' freeze works for me. Writing down an idea gets it out of my head and then I can work on it later when it makes sense.
I have a 'do not do' list; projects I'm not allowed to work on until I finish the current ones I'm working on.
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Side note:
I think one key part you are missing from the 'wisertag plants' is the ability for companies to stay in touch with their customers (i.e. you have an opportunity to build a relationship with your customers -- that should be the focus).
Your current writeup is not really selling the main benefits.
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Something I've learned after side projecting my side projects for years: you'll have to do things that you don't like if you want to create a successful business.
You've taken a step in the right direction by posting this. I've been in the same situation a few times, but by simply looking at posts by others on IndieHackers, it has given me drive to continue and try get the same success as others.
Seems like you could benefit a lot from a sales/marketing co-founder. Shoot me an email if you're interested in working together. lasnindrek@gmail.com
See if it applies to you, but it probably helps to work on something you'd pay for yourself.
I face this problem too. I think that focusing on getting a paying customer instead of building a product could help. That way you building the solution will be a "side product" of trying to solve a customer's need.
I have personally come across moments when it is necessary to write or have software for a certain project or product for a certain area. So at this moment, any qualitative firm, like https://www.daxx.com/technology/hire-python-developers, which will help to open all potential and create qualitative software, can come to the aid. If you need to hire a professional team, contact them, they'll get it together quickly!
you’re not alone! i have 5-6 project ideas in 2019. I’ve started 3 projects and gradually lose motivation. But I always thinking to go back to my first idea. :(
Ever thought about just building these things and then selling them as-is?
I think by posting you’ve taken a great learning step.
You know where your weakness is. I think you should reflect and consider what you could do differently. Don’t do the same thing again and expect different results.
So definitely don’t just coding again would be my advice...
This is the exact problem I am facing. I start on something and gradually lose motivation.
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