How to Kill your Productivity

I used to be so very productive... then as the business grew, my productivity died.

How could such a thing happen?

1. Support. You should have a basic ticketing system and start your KB early on. Don't assume "great UI" will cut it. People like to see how it works and they'll continually contact you until you spend all day on the phone and wonder how you go there. Hire someone early on who'll make it work.

2. Incorrect pricing. Sure, it looks great to get another bunch of clients, but are they able to cover themselves and their support costs? I didn't charge for support (still don't) and I'm a little tired that I do heaps of work for free and forget that I need to charge for my time. Additionally, more money means you can grow faster.

3. Not focussing on the big picture. I'm full-time on my product and we've grown to a team of 5 (yay!). I still answer support tickets & do a lot of development... but don't be the back stop. Hire people who'll take the load off of your shoulders instead of do small tasks faster. Instead of trying to do more, try to be smarter and free yourself up so you can spend time on decisions that really move the needle for you and your customers.

I'm slowly getting my productivity back, but I should have kept an eye out for this stuff earlier.