Producing events always meant that we had a clear deadline. The date for the event was clear at the start of the preparations. It was great, it took out one of the variables in what the event could be like.
In business, it is a lot more flowing. It is very easy to fall into the trap of improving, rather than getting something out there. It is probably one of the inventor diseases.
To overcome that, I set a date: 31 May 2008, the date of our launch. And to make it even more serious, we committed to being part of World Environment Day.
It was actually a whole month before the original plan. It was a crazy date, but it helped us to focus on the essential things.
And we made it. The SolarPay website was ready. The other marketing materials were ready. The partners were lined up. The team had given everything to make it.
Most importantly though, we had cut out all “nice-to-have’s”. Absolute focus on the core of the business model.
A fantastic way to get things done.
- Set a date
- Link it to something outside of your control
- Collect a list of nice-to-have’s for future improvements
- Refocus on the core of your business model
Due to bad weather the actual launch did not go ahead, because the event we wanted to held it at was postponed. But we had achieved our goals.