Day 70 - Top 5 Lessons Learned - Devil in the Details

Day 70.  Seems like a large number all of a sudden.  I have not worked for anyone else for 70 days.  Realistically that is just over 2 months, but I feel like I have been doing this job my entire life.  I can't imagine living any other way right now, but time will tell.

It has been about 2 weeks since I blogged last.  Partly due to one of the top 5 Lessons I have learned over the last few weeks.  So, let's just get into it!

Lesson #1 - Time Management

I am a calender junky.  I have organized my time in 15 minute increments, well probably since the day I could hold a pencil.  I still have a very detailed calendar (several actually) that lists all the time bound commitments I have to the various roles I have in my life - but - time management is different when you are the one controlling the commitments.  I know that doesn't seem to make sense, but bear with me.

When you have to take your children to the doctor or you have a dentist appointment, you are given a few choices from the person controlling that schedule.  You pick what works best, often times having to move things around.  Your kids go to school when the school tells you.  When you work for someone else, they tell you show up at 8am and leave after 5pm or after you are done working.  So while it seems we have the semblance of some control over our schedule, it seems to me I have been faking myself into believing that for far too long.

I am finding I have too much to do and I am the only one that can set the priorities of those things.  While that is a bit of a challenge, it is not too hard.  The real problem is how many disparate things I have to do in a day.  I have told you before, I love to wear multiple hats.  However, I am slowly finding out that I also need some grouping of tasks or larger tasks to kill the monotony of fifty tiny unrelated tasks in a row.  For example, yesterday I worked on balancing our checkbook, comparing actuals vs. budget values, creating a letter from the CEO, signing an NDA, signing a 401K, reviewing test cases, meeting with a mastermind group, reviewing social media, reviewing development stories, seeing a product demonstration of current progress, and well about a million other things in the 11.5 hour day.   But my brain was ALL over the map.  I had heads down stuff followed by what felt like death by a million paper cuts.  Luckily I have some great entrepreneurs that have walked this path before.  Their advice?  Create "themes" for different days of the week:  Monday - Mail, Correspondence, Tuesday -  Development, etc.  I haven't found the right combination yet, but I assure you - you will hear about what works when I do.  Lesson learned - freedom isn't always free.  I lose quite a bit of productivity juggling between one side of my brain and the other.  The devil is in the details.

Lesson #2 - 401K is not a 401K is not a 401K

I have to save for when I retire and sit on the beach all day in Australia!  OK, I'm not sure that is the retirement plan, but alas you get the idea.  Figuring out how to save PRE-TAX like I was when I worked for someone else was more difficult that it seems.  Enter Solo 401K.  Now that is great and all, but thank goodness we accidentally set up our ownership correctly - it seems you are not eligible if you have any owners with less than 5% - and that includes rounding - not 4.85% - 5% of the overall ownership.  Dodged that bullet on accident.  That little devil could have cost me thousands.  Thank goodness it didn't.  So, this is just a cautionary tale for the rest of you - some details are best sorted out before you sign the operating agreement.  Think this one through.

Lesson #3 - There is an App for that!

Apps are fun to make.  We did smart things at the start and decided to use a framework that allows us to make Android and iPhone apps with one code base.  Smart!  Yes.  However, how many of you own an iPhone and a Android device?  Not many.  I didn't think it would matter that much.  Good news is I got the Android for a steal - and I just need wifi to download the beta app.  Bad news, I have not used anything other than an iPhone in a long time.  I have to LEARN HOW TO NAVIGATE on the darn Samsung.  Not a huge deal, but the installation was different, the location of a lot of things is different.  Lesson learned - you do need to have both device types and you should learn to use it.  Hard to find issues with something or think how the customer might use it if you are not sure how it normally works in the first place.  Good news, our development and testing team are pros.  Bad news - I wasted (ok it was not a waste) a lot of time just figure out what the heck was going on.  Lesson learned - the devil is in the details.

Lesson #4 - (Repeat) - Nothing is Free - Pictures are not free either!

So the internet SEEMS awesome.  But folks don't like to read blogs that are just text.  They don't like to see apps that are just words either.  So, enter pictures/images/photos.  Do not search free photos online - you get very little - royalty free is a bit better - but ultimately you will have to pay for a subscription to istock, shutterstock or some other service - unless of course you have nothing better to do than to take tons of photos or draw funny little devils in your free time.  Also, all the photos you do have access to when you have to pay for them - well they might disappoint you.  I am not a photographer - but I seem to have found a keen eye for details when I have to review 100's of photos and figure out which ones I want to shell out cash for.  Lesson learned, devil in the details.  Be sure you read the license terms (often you can use them for "personal use" but not "commercial") and add some budget money into Marketing to account for things like this and fonts (see last post).

Lesson #5 - Networking - Easier Said than Done WELL

Ok.  I am a talker.  If you ever meet me in person, you might be exhausted afterwards - I have a lot of words.  (I mean look at these blogs - never a short one!)  I have come to terms with that for sure.  So, naturally you will assume that I am fantastic at networking.  And well, in a natural setting when we are all there for a common reason - well sure.  I can LinkedIn connect with you, no biggie.  I can add you on Facebook.  I can talk to anyone, anywhere, about anything.  But, as time begins to be more and more limited - networking needs to actually be a 'task' that is done and groomed.  WHAT?

Yes, really.  You can't just ask folks for stuff.  You can't just call them or email them when you have a need.  You must cultivate and grow your relationships and make new ones.  This one also fits in with the time management thing.  I am working on perfecting my 'networking strategy' - but I have to tell you - this is NOT one of the things I thought was going to be a challenge.  Lesson learned - you don't know what you don't know AND being on LinkedIn does not a network make.  :)  I am sure there will be more tidbits on this as it evolves into a more solid "theme" in my time management arsenal - but it is one for you to think about too.

Well folks - time to make the donuts!  Thanks for listening.
CEO of a Startup