Fail Fast

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January 23, 2009 by Amanda | Comments (6)

“Fail fast” is one of my business secrets for entreprenesses. Whether you are starting a business or launching a new idea within your existing business, I like to promote the fail fast method. Just do it (like Nike says). Get it out of your system. Quit thinking about it, writing a business plan for eight years, excel-documenting until your eyes blur. Pretend you are in the business and go out and try it on. Make a business card and get a domain name and get running to see if it will fly.

One of my ideas was wowcookies.com. I was in the cookie business at the time and won an award for the best cookie in the nation. So I got a bright idea to start an online business shipping cookies that make you say WOW! I got the business card and domain name and went to the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco.

I failed this business in a weekend. First of all, I found out there are tons of cookies that are great but they don’t make you say WOW. Plus the few WOW cookies of the world would not drop ship for me. Reality was frustrating and I moved on to my next idea. Thank goodness I didn’t spend a lot of time and money on this business before I launched and found out in one weekend it wasn’t going to fly.

Prototype. Survey. Pretend you are in business. Fail Fast! You might just succeed.

6 Responses to “Fail Fast”

• Heather Says:
  January 23rd, 2009 at 11:54 am

  Great advice! Sometimes I hesitate because a lot of my resources are being spent on keeping my current business afloat, but this reminds me that we have to keep trying to improve, expand, change and grow because you really do not know what will stick until you throw it, so to speak.

• Rachel Cost Says:
  January 23rd, 2009 at 8:05 pm

  Good advice! Failing fast is also promoted by Tim Ferriss of “4-Hour Work Week.” Feriss has used this technique and others to enter the “New Rich” and travel the world…..women could use the techniques simply to create a bit of work-life balance that we so desperately need!

  For women who want a low risk way to test their business ideas, there are so many options….Etsy has lowered the barrier to entry for launching a line of creative handmade goods, Foodzie is the place to launch a new independent food line, blogs and podcasting are great for fledgling authors and speakers.

  For one of my clients, about to launch a baby product (http://www.itzbeen.com) we organized a survey at Baby’s R Us during one of their Vendor’s Days. The information gathered supported his idea, provided critical pricing feedback, and gave us great insight for packaging designs. Best of all it was free!

  Rachel Cost
  Creative Director, Branding Salon
  http://www.brandingsalon.com
  twitter.com/brandingsalon
  twitter.com/rachelcost

• Kelsey Says:
  January 23rd, 2009 at 8:25 pm

  So true! I’ve had a bunch of ideas that after researching and trying, realized wouldn’t work. Some people think it’s being flaky to jump to new ideas but I say why sink more time and $$ into something that won’t work? duh!

• Susan Says:
  January 28th, 2009 at 3:44 pm

  Love this idea and believe in it completely. The faster you try, the faster you find out. Test in small quantities and don’t worry so much about who’s gonna steal your idea. If people like it, you’ll know pretty quickly. I don’t understand why people are so scared to get something out there. Life is short. Time is passing you by. Bust out!

• Marlene Says:
  January 28th, 2009 at 4:19 pm

  Genius!

• Sonja Silver Says:
  January 28th, 2009 at 4:39 pm

  True! True! True! The biggest risk is not taking one. You’re a rock star Mel. Love you.

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