Pre-launch purgatory is holding you back. Here's how I broke free.
Failure to launch purgatory is an ugly place to be. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. (Alright, maybe people that leave shopping carts in parking spaces can spend ONE day there...)
My co-founders and I recently found ourselves stumbling over some familiar questions:
How do we package this?
What do we charge?
Who do we target?
What services do we provide?
The list goes on...
Our MVP was finished two months ago. Branding. Check. Initial Assets. Check. Sites up and running. Check.
Then the pre-launch jitters creep in.
“Wait I need to build out this feature. Let me add this asset real quick. What do you think about changing the branding to focus more on [Insert Niche]? How about this price movement? I think this copy might hit more.”
Wait, What, How, Who, When, If, Ok, Then, Wait, Perfect, Wait again, Ready, Just kidding, Our product sucks, Let’s start over.... BLEHHHHHH.
It finally clicked. Fear. Doubt. Excuses. Imposter syndrome. All bundled up in one little pre-launch purgatory package.
We came to our senses before it was too late. Before we lost all of our momentum and mental stability.
Mission Control: We are ready for launch. T-minus...
It’s not going to be perfect. It’s not going to be everything that you want. There will always be more bells and whistles to add. You HAVE to get out there and receive feedback from your consumers.
Your products help solve problems. Every day you wait is another day you go without helping someone. Another day people live without your tool to make their lives better.
Stop waiting for clear skies and the perfect launch conditions. It doesn’t exist.
Your rocket ship is ready to go to the moon. There will be plenty to figure out in space travel.
You are ready to go.
We are ready to watch you soar.
Just hit the launch button.
See you amongst the stars.
*If you'd like to see our rocket ship, we think it's quite Notable.
Build. Launch. Learn. Fast.
Don’t dither on social media as all your fans will just say ‘yes it looks lovely’. Launch fast then start booking in Zoom discovery calls (25 mins, do not call them sales calls) with real potential clients. Do a “quick’ demo, understand their problems and chat about how your product can help those problems. Say that you are just gathering feedback right now - “ask for feedback, get clients” as they say.
Most of all… JFDI 😊
JFDI!! Hahaha love it.
All about solving those problems.
Completely agree, we had been pre-selling it was more of public release jitters!
Once we decided it was live though, the weight taken off our shoulders really helped us to get our minds in a healthier direction.
😊
Needed this reminder. Thank you!
You are welcome!! Get out there and launch.
Yeah totally agree, get it out there, get people using it and then improve it. This is especially true for Android and iPhone apps. Getting through all the paperwork to get a mobile app ready is such a huge hurdle.
Updating a live app is so much easier than launching a new one.
We launched both web and iphone/android so there was lots of QA involved but completely agree, I've been launching apps for 10 years and I am always the first to say "JUST GET IT OUT THE DOOR" but when it's your own product there is always that doubt and hesitation.
"Wait, What, How, Who, When, If, Ok, Then, Wait, Perfect, Wait again, Ready, Just kidding, Our product sucks, Let’s start over.... BLEHHHHHH." lol. Yes.
I smiled after typing that one, hehe.
Thank you for this....definitely needed this!
Glad you found it helpful!
This is so relatable, thank you for the wake up call!
You are welcome!
"Stop waiting for clear skies and the perfect launch conditions. It doesn’t exist." +1!!! If we wait until we feel "ready", then we'll never start anything.
If it rains, it rains!
Surround yourself with other entrepreneurs and you will have the motivation to start. Many people in our virtual coworking space for entrepreneurs got inspired by seeing other entrepreneurs working on their projects
I've read a quote somewhere saying something along the lines of "Don't let perfection be your obstacle for very good". I think it can be applied to a certain extent here, as well.
But, to be completely honest, I'm not totally free from the "perfection monster" myself. When working on BotMeNot I tend to focus a lot on polishing everything and thinking about every new idea that comes to my mind.
Churchill has a good quote that is basically, "PERFECTION is spelled PARALYSIS."
It is definitely a monster that we all wrestle with.
What a great representation of the last 60 days together.
It's funny that the team here has experienced hundred of launches first hand but when it came to our own it was so much more difficult to hit the go button.
If it wasn't for @Notable_Conner I don't think we'd be live.
Thanks for killing it buddy and keeping our heads on straight.