How do you overcome the "desert of no feedback or motivation"
Hey,
In almost any project as well as side hustle, there seems to be a period, where motivation is sparse, feedback is very limited or non existent and success is far away.
Do you also experience this? How do you cope with this "desert of no feedback or motivation"?
Ask yourself "why am I building this thing". And be brutally honest. No point in lying to yourself.
If the answer is along the lines of solving X for Y; confirm the existence of the problem and find others who have the problem. Better start with this sooner rather than later.
If the answer is along the lines of "I just like building/tinkering with this", then maybe you have just run out of creative juice for this project and it's time to move on.
Taking your time to reflect on these questions is something most of us probably should be doing more.
what a king, will try it, thank you. btw how do you ask question to confirm the existence of the problem? I mean like "hello, I create this app... to help you do ..." or what?
the now classic book 'the mom test' has answers for that.
wow, thank you for the book, haven't read it before
Great advice, thanks. i read it some times ago and indeed, it is extremely helpful. And funny
@krister beat me to the punch :) But yeah, reading "The Mom Test" from Rob Fitzpatrick should be mandatory reading for everyone starting a business.
I build to entertain myself first and foremost. It's just sort of a necessity for me to create things, especially stupid things. It's disappointing not to feel appreciated for the weird or stupid contributions I make to whatever field I'm working in, but I don't let it dictate how I feel about my efforts.
i go out and find new users. it's hard, but there is no other way.
This might actually be an underrated response, thanks for that.
Something to always keep in mind: no matter in which phase you are, talking with (potential) users will always help.
Thanks
there's nothing that gets me going more than seeing a user actually use my product. honestly after 8 years of this stuff money isn't even the goal anymore. i'd just like to make something that people use. money is a must, i'm in the minus with financial independence, but what me as a person wants (or maybe as an artist/designer) is usage.
Do you mean literally go our or? - because if you are in a small city that isn't going to be an option
if you're selling something that can be sold on the street or door to door, then you should indeed do that. even if you have to travel to another city.
but likely it's a SaaS or digital product you're selling, in which case you simulate the street online. find your target audience online (specialized forums are better than twitter), make yourself known, get to know people.