Restarting the Startup
All, I took a few months of hiatus to deal with school and other responsibilities (including the paying job). While I was on hiatus, I did have app improvements happening, the improvements came back from development team. But now because it's been long and this whole ordeal is just normally challenging... I just don't know exactly how to restart the process again. I am not jaded or utterly demoralized (I am the normal demoralized), but I am finding myself in a haze. I feel like I am going from one thought to the next, doing house-cleaning, reviewing old emails, etc... The interesting thing is I have a bit of pep in the step with some interest, people willing to join up, but I am just failing to get real traction moving myself in the right direction. I usually listen to a Podcast or a Youtube video to gain insight, maybe there is a book to read? I am terrible with imagination, but I am good with procedures. Has anyone here had this situation, in what way did you gather your tools and get back to business? By the way, I stay generally fit, I have a good home life, and I am doing really well in most ways - but I made this app and business to be my income, and I am dedicated to it... I just need to get back to business.
Hey Manuel. I'm glad to hear that much of your life is good!
I'm just trying to understand your blocker... Are you scheduling time to work on your project and finding that you are working on other things during that time?
I appreciate the response. I realize the last part looks like a humble brag, but I think it's important to be precise about life. I am in a stable situation, I have a lot of things to be really grateful for. As for the project, I put the time in, probably not enough. I just got out of the semester and I put aside time to work on the project. I look at what I have setup and try to address the issues, but it's hard to pin a path. I chip away at a lot of separate things and spin wheels. I find myself distracted. Do I work on marketing collateral? Maybe outreach? Engage with customers? Use my app? Build pitch deck? Learn something new and beneficial? There is always a hundred things to do... but which ones do you choose? I think that's my problem. I am looking for the roadmap and I fail to act on anything.
It didn't come across as bragging to me at all! More like gratitude and appreciation for the parts of your life that are already good. It's one thing to have good things in your life... It's another to be able to really appreciate them. That's what I've found, anyway. I'm glad that you're able to compartmentalize and see your business as a part of your life, but not the entirety of it.
Just brainstorming here... Have you considered writing a more detailed post on IH about your situation? Maybe you could give some metrics showing your growth, talk about how you're attracting users, explain what the feedback has been like, and then lay out your thoughts about next steps? Sort of a "state of the business" writeup. That might give people enough information to offer more concrete advice.
Alternatively, there are a number of mentoring projects out there... Maybe you could connect with a startup mentor for a few chats?
What are your thoughts?
I think this is a good response. I will do this. I think a lot of time it's easy to vaguely speak about the problem because I do want to be accused of promoting and probably I am subconsciously avoiding criticism. I think ego is at play here and the only way to get out of the funk is to put my ugly up for everyone to see. Who knows maybe someone will call it cute ;). How about you Brandon, what do you do? Are you really a hacker... are you hacking me?
Maybe someone will call it cute, or maybe someone will have been in a similar place before and have some great insight into next steps! 🤞🏻
I'm an aspiring indie hacker (definitely in the learning/ideation stage), and I'm also helping Courtland out with community management, trying to make sure that people get the most out of this community!