Wasting time on big project

Every big project takes a lot of time. You often need months, even years, to finish the big project.

It also takes a lot of work. You first need to read a lot of books, reports, manuals, articles, tutorials... And that's just the beginning. You know what is next... The 18-hour days. The 7-day weeks.

And, of course, every big project comes in pack with the small problems. Strange law you didn't know. People who think you don't have the right to do what you do. Technical problem that would make NASA engineer feel like Forrest Gump... And guess who will have to solve all the problems... Yep, you my friend...

However, that's not the scary part. No. The scary part is -- what will happen if it doesn't work? What if you give your best to climb a ladder and then you find it is the wrong ladder?

Big projects are big problems. Well they are, but that's good... You see, when you try to solve really big, multi-layer problem, it pays off, even if you fail. You get knowledge, experience, alliances... You are always in better position than before you started. 

So, the feeling of fear before any big project is just an illusion. Fantasy.

If you allow the illusion to become too big, you will cancel the project. I know it first hand. I have a huge list of projects I never started. Why? In the end, they become so scary I felt like a little boy in front of a big bully.

There is only one solution for this.

Change your perspective

You need to realize that the big problems are not bad at all. If you succeed, you become a legend. If you fail, you learn things, meet people and get a chance to try again.

Don't be afraid of the big projects, be afraid of the small ones. In fact, imagine what will happen if you become addicted to big projects? It would be a lot of things, but boring is not one of them.

Take some big fat project. Something that will take you and your capabilities to another level.

That's what I decided to do. 

How To Solve Any Business Problem? Find a Model

In business, your job is to solve problems. Often it's like you're playing chess with ten grandmasters at the same time.

But, if you can't solve problems, there are many people who will. As John D. Rockefeller said, "The growth of a large business is merely a survival of the fittest". If you don't solve problems you may find yourself on the fast track to the business graveyard.

To become a problem solver, you need to maximize your imagination and creativity. Now that's tricky. How to be "creative" when you are solving a business problem (usually) under pressure? Simply. Find a model!

No. I'm not talking about a fashion model.

I'm talking about one of the most effective ways to find new, creative business solutions. 

Modeling means you find business that already solved a similar problem, and you simply do the same thing. It's nothing new. You use it your whole life. 

In most cases, there is no need to find breakthrough solution. You don't need to invent new technology unless there is no other solution. Why? Because, if you invest your time and money in something new, you will have test it, so it's possible it won't work at all. It's an unnecessary risk and waste of time. On the other hand, if you model someone else, it means he already solved the problem. He tested it for you. It's faster, cheaper, and safer.

Let we now discuss how to do this modeling thing. First, you need to find a model....

How To Find The Right Model

To find a model you need to know what you are looking for. So first, define your goal. I suggest you use good old SMART goal criteria. Take a piece of paper and write specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-targeted goal.

You may think, "but I have a problem, not a goal." Just translate it in a goal. Instead of, "we need to sell more or we are going down" say, "increase sales for 30% in the next twelve months." 

Now you just need to find someone who already achieved the goal. It's not that hard. Use Google. Talk to some friend. Send email to someone who know. Read some report. 

Let's say you have a bakery business. And your goal is to expand. You now have two bakeries, and you want to have ten of them, in 5 years. (This is a strategic goal, you will probably use modeling for tactical goals, but it's good for demonstration purposes).

Now you need to find some bakery chain with ten objects. So, you search. "List of top Bakery Companies". You just found several bakeries with +10 objects. 

How To Research?

Now you need to find all you can about them, and then separate the ones who are most similar to yours. How? Use questions.

• Who? 
• What? 
• When?
• Where? 
• Why? 

How they started? Where they started? Who was in charge? ... Use as much questions as you need. You can usually find a lot of information on their website, or some forum, magazine etc. You can also send them an email with questions. 

Let me play with this. I searched and found Bread Talk, company from Singapore. I'm far from Singapore, but they are one of the most successful franchises there, and Singapore is very competitive environment for food business. After more digging I found a lot about how they work. It's a whole new system. Their outlets consist of a huge see-through kitchen. They rented most of the best retail space. They introduce new products frequently. Ok. Now I dig about their history... And ask questions. 

You can take all your notes put them on index cards. In example of bakery, you can become franchise. Or you can use see-through kitchen. Or something else. (In case you didn't notice, i don't know much about bakeries)

What now? You are now ready for...

Action Plan

What you do here is you go over all the details you gathered very carefully and you try to find SMART answers for your goals. SMART answers are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-targeted. So we translate all the facts we have to SMART answers for your problem/goal.

When you have SMART goal, detailed research and SMART answers for your problem, you can make a simple action plan.

Simply map out the path for achieving your goal. Step by step, what to do. A, B, C, BANG! It should be one page action plan, up to about 350 words at most.

Now, just do it. And that's the way you can use modeling to solve business problems.

Let's sum it all up:

1. You create a SMART goal.

2. You find a group of possible models.

3. You select one or two models and ask questions about them (research).

4. You make SMART answers.

5. You create an ACTION PLAN.

6. You take the ACTION PLAN and do what you need to do.

Do this! You can't lose! You just need a piece of paper and some time. And you can solve any problem, big or small.

What do you think about modeling?

There is No Easy Money: Pay The Cost To Be The Boss

Sometimes we see successful people or businesses and think, "hey that's easy, I can do that" and then, when we try to imitate them fail and get frustrated, "they are just lucky."

But, you know, success doesn’t happen. It’s created.

  The Huffington Post 

I went to to the Technorati Top 100, and saw The Huffington Post as #1 blog... So, let's take "The Huffington Post" to be a test subject for our research... At Huffington Post you see 100.000 comments on one article, you see that  AOL acquired the Huffington Post for $315 million.

Unfortunately, a lot of people don't see all the ground work behind the curtains...  That website is the result of calculated action and years and years of hard work.

The Huffington Post was founded by Arianna Huffington and 3 more people. One Internet entrepreneur, one publisher (and author), and one businessman.

And prior to The Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington hosted a website called Ariannaonline.com for several years. I went to web.archive.org to research that a little bit more. Ariannaonline.com  had big community of more than 1.000 active forum members. And she had a column syndicated in the Los Angeles Times, New York Post etc. for 10 years before founding the Huffington post. Plus, she wrote books, participated in radio shows...

Not to mention all the contacts she had over the years. Oh, and one small detail, they lunched in May 2005 and in August 2006 they raise and invest $5 million in the site.

So imagine this scenario: You have/are,

•  ten years of writing a column,
•  author of several books
•  co-host of the weekly public radio program
•  several years old website with forum with +1000 active members
•  a huge number of contacts and friends

Then you create a business, the blog,

• with 3 partners
• with lot of work
• invest $5 million in the site.

Compare that with a guy who start a blog to make fast money online:

• Invest $100,
• have no contacts,
• have no partners,
• nobody knows about them,
• don't have experience in writing or the industry.
• don't write very well
• don't have self-discipline or patience.

 There is no such a thing as free lunch  

You have to be serious when starting a new business, online or offline, it doesn't matter.

You'll have to work like mad to achieve results. There is no "easy and fast" way.

People think that life is all pleasure and no pain. And when they encounter obstacles they think it's unnatural and they should quit pursuing a goal. They see only the end results of a long process, they see only "his business earned him $100.000/month" they don't see "he is working like hell to make that."