Don't Be Scared, Do The Hard Things First

If you’re a regular reader of my blog you’ll know that I recently went on a bit of a ‘walkabout’ (to quote Mic Dundee) into the world of web frameworks and programming languages.  This was a result of wanting to know more about software, so that i could be a more well rounded Founder, or at least be competent enough to work with a developer.

I’m really grateful that I’ve taken the time to get to know each of those three frameworks/languages, and think that it helped me move along the spectrum of “technical founder” quite a bit.

But, one thing I realized after all that, is that learning just for the sake of learning is really just a very noble way of veiling your procrastination.

I’m a big fan of all of the “just in time” methodologies. Have to write a blog post on Saturday mornings, write it on saturday morning.  Have to lose weight for that wedding, get real serious about your diet 2 weeks beforehand.  Have to learn how to code in PHP/Laravel, why not learn it when you really HAVE to learn it. Not just because you’ve given yourself a mental rain check from the rest of your responsibilities.

Especially when it’s something as distinguished as Learning to Program.  Who doesn’t want to have that arrow in their quiver?  But the problem is this:  Unless I want to become a professional coder then learning to code just for the sake of learning to code is just a waste of time.

If I’m honest with myself then I went on my learning expedition to avoid the harsh reality of business, getting customers, maximizing profits, and coming to grips with what may lie ahead for my entrepreneurial journey.

Instead maybe I should toughen up and Do The Hard Things First.  And when it comes to business, doing the hard thing almost always means talking to customers.

As a non-technical founder this should be my default action in times of indecision.  I think the draw to learning something new is that I could easily convince myself that the time I was learning was well spent, and an investment in my future.  But I don’t know that it’s really the case.

I’m excited to share a new project I’m looking at with everyone very soon.  It will be the quintessential Bootstrapped and scraped together way of building a business. It will no doubt be tough, but tough things are the only ones worth doing.  Anyone can waste their time tweaking a website, learning the newest framework, or ‘practicing’ marketing.

Instead, what really makes a business is going out and talking to your potential customers, understanding their problems, and finding a way to help them solve it.

So with that, I’m off to talk to some potential customers, and hope to have some insights about their burning needs, and how I’m going to solve them, next week.

Until then I’d like to hear from you about your thoughts on Learning vs. Doing.  Drop a comment in below and let me know!