Episode 11 - hello again from the wardrobe (closet for those on the west side of "the pond").
What a crazy week - forgot to say on the recording, but hope everyone celebrating had an amazing Labor day weekend and or Rosh Hashanah.
Key learnings this week (amongst many many of them):
Reminding myself i am a deadline person, and as much as it's stressful, having something to work towards, really helps focus me and leads to a better outcome.
Play to your strengths! I am a generalist yes, but that does not make me the best designer. This also means that my weakness however is also that i am a generalist - as i can do most things. So choosing when to outsource, what not to do can be hard. This is definitely compounded by the “scrappy startup” mentality / persona of feeling you need to do everything yourself. It took me a while, but remember the trade off's - do you want an“ok” or an expert outcome? Do it yourself vs outsource? I am slowly remembering, that just because i don't have an immediate team around me, it doesn't mean i have to do everything myself.
Procrastination and fear is a genuine thing. When i self-doubt, am afraid of doing things wrong, i procrastinate. For me, i end up getting something to eat or cleaning (hello empty dishwasher). I don't think this is something you solve over night, but am hoping that by being aware / sharing this (posted on Linkedin too), that it will help me and others.
Brainstorming on other people’s ideas, can improve the outcomes of your your own project. The exercise of problem solving, and thinking of ways to help others builds and engages your creative muscles. This then benefits The Knowledge Shop too, because mentally I'm then in a better place / more engaged and able to hit the ground running.Deep dive: Having something tangible will give you a boost
More wireframe / prototype talk yes, but bear with me.... (ps - good reminder, for startups taking years, not weeks to develop).
To now, most of my ideas for TKS in my head - or shown with a few flow diagrams. But for the accelerator final, they want the pitch to be less powerpoint, more product focussed (which i can understand). Problem - I had nothing.
So - I drew with a pencil some very rough sketches of the most important aspects of the TKS user experience. Then found a designer to turn them into beautiful works of art.
Wow - the feeling of pride, when i saw the designs - they really brought The Knowledge Shop to life. I was so proud.
Moral of the story - with hindsight i wish I'd had designs made sooner. I think it would have helped to get user feedback, and explain my idea. Plus of course, it's something tangible to show for your entrepreneurial efforts.If you don't know how to find a designer, this is what i did....
Used Fiverr (others like Upwork are available)
Looked for designers with nice looking portfolios
Filtered by price, whether they could deliver in my timeframe, and geography (i couldn't loose a day due to timezone differences).
Then waited........
After hearing from a slightly dubious person, met "Christi" (hoping not too many people find her, but credit where credit is due), and wow. amazing speed and ability to decipher. I could literally have used what she gave me immediately, without any tweaks (although i did of course ask for some).
Now you have somebody else you can turn to for future projects (I am already working with her on more) 
