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Brick No62: Answers to your two most-common questions
By Matt Weston, Friday 30 April 2004 Ready. Aim. Fire. It was Tom Peters, the doyen of business thinkers, who first popularised the mantra, "Ready. Fire. Aim." (Yeah, in that order.) When you're starting a small business, or thinking about making the leap, it's all too easy to go, "Ready. Aim. Aim. Aim. Aim." Too many of us spend far too long procrastinating at the drawing board. Often it's better to shoot first and ask questions later. The best way to learn is to act. Tom Peters puts it like this: " Each wrong turn, shanked golf shot, or flubbed keyboard instruction teaches us something about the shot, game, program . . . " " . . . the more try-its, the more tries, the more instructive failures, the more happy accidents, the more learning, the faster the corrective process - and the higher the odds of success. It's about that simple. " Sometimes the most-effective way to test your new product or service is to get out there and try it on the market. If it fails, you learn and try again (just like a baby learning to sit up for the first time). The sooner you fail, the sooner you succeed. Answers to your two most common questions The two most common questions I get asked by business bricks readers are variations on these: Question 1: " I've only just signed up to business bricks. Is there any way I can access your archive of all the past bricks I've missed? " Question 2: " How on earth do you manage to write two new bricks every week? " Well, dear reader - Answer 1: Stop Press: there wasn't an archive, but there is now. Check it out. Excuse any glitches. It's what web developers call a beta version. Extra gloss and navigation will be added soon, and if you notice any big errors, let me know. (It's been a bit of a rush to get it up what with all those four-day weeks and all). I'm not doing a brick for next Tuesday because of the bank holiday - so I wanted to give you something to sink your teeth into until next time. As ever, I'd really appreciate your feedback. What are your favourite 3 bricks of all time? And why? Answer 2: In the beginning . . . I was planning on doing business bricks monthly, maybe fortnightly at a push. And I planned to launch it "next month sometime". Then, one sunny Thursday afternoon last year I explained the idea to a mentor of mine, a guy who's launched dozens of newsletters himself. He virtually coerced me into doing it not "monthly" but"twice every week", starting not "sometime next month" but"tomorrow". It was the best advice I've ever been given. My first efforts were my worst (as you'll see at the archive). But failing is the quickest possible way to learn. The more you write, the better you get, the closer you understand what your reader wants to read. And the same applies to whatever it is you do. As my mentor put it on that sunny Thursday, I bet David Beckham couldn't hit a barn door with a beach ball the first time he kicked a football. He only learnt how to "Bend It Like Beckham" by "Missing It Like Beckham". Repeat after me: "Ready. Fire. Aim." Remember to sign up: back to top |
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