🍦 Version 0 > Version 1

Hey friend —

Are you guilty of trying to be a perfectionist in your business? (🙋‍♂️ me too)

Sometimes, it's trying to perfect and craft an idea, a system or a product - whatever it is - we start to spend far too long with little tweaks and adjustments, and I don't know about you, but it makes me feel busy. It makes me feel like I'm moving the needle or building something that will work really well.

The thing is, though, I don't know that until I put it through its paces.

Until I stress test it and get it out there.

Whether that's a sale system, an onboarding process, a new method for our work or even this very newsletter you're reading - there are countless examples where I have had to draw a line and get whatever I'm working on OUT there.

Start using it, start seeing how it works and then, and only then, make little tweaks and adjustments to adapt and improve.

I was always waiting to launch the perfect version of what I was working on. Version 1.0 - I can tick it off my list. It is now done. I can move on to other things that need my attention.

The truth is that things are rarely done and never need touching again.

Revisiting systems and processes in your business to see how they are working and what can be improved is vital, and I've been slowly coming to terms with this.

Instead, the mantra I've been trying to live by is Version 0 > Version 1. Let's get started. Let's get 'IT' out there, whatever 'IT' may be. Let's see how it does. What is the customer feedback? What do the team think? What do I think about it? Does it meet my expectations or solve the problem I thought it would solve?

Thankfully, being a small business, we're usually much more agile than the big corporate conglomerates. That means we can do this, get real-time feedback on our ideas and processes and adjust from there.

Sometimes, the idea doesn't work as we thought or needs to be changed. Sometimes, it creates a whole other process that is required or maybe exceeds what we thought it would and improves multiple areas of the business.

The fact is that if I was still working towards Version 1, I wouldn't have any idea about any of that and could be wasting even more time.

This isn't to say that launching a bad, broken product or system is the way to go just to get it off the to-do list, but to get it to a 'good enough' level and test it and see how it works. Once it's there, what things would you change or improve?

This newsletter is a perfect example for me - I had put it off for so long because I wasn't sure what people would want, what would be interesting or of value for all of you, and how could I deliver that.

After messing around with various email marketing software builders, template layouts, colour schemes and whatnot - I thought well, let's see how it does and just get something out there. Let's try to start delivering some value and some insights and tweak and adapt as we go.

So, over time, this newsletter will naturally improve and get better as I tweak and work on it to deliver more value. To continue to ask questions of you to challenge you to be the best you can in your business as well.

We wouldn't have this right now if I were waiting for Version 1, and many areas in my business wouldn't exist if we were waiting for Version 1 as well.

There's plenty more to do, though, and I'm grateful for those reading along with me on the journey.

What's something you're working on that you're maybe trying to 'perfect' too much and could get out there and launch?

Written and edited by Ben Nacca