Focus on Flickr by Matt Brown esq
It’s now been three weeks since I was let go from my job.
I can’t believe how extraordinarly busy I have been in this time frame, but when I sum it up, my weeks look like this:
Week 1: Family from Vancouver visiting.
Week 2: Deal with the truth that I have been terminated from my job.
Week 3: Get into the swing of things.
I’ve had three great job leads that I’ve been keeping warm: one where I would oversee the project management office and production operations of a small boutique interactive agency that’s just getting its offices going in Toronto. Another role where a former boss of mine was trying to convince them that they should hire me to run their project management department, rather than just hire me as a project manager. Another where someone I know just moved to a huge Canadian IT consulting company and is trying to grow its interactive consulting practice. He could use help there.
The first opportunity is appealing when I talk to them; not so much when I reflect more on it.
The second opportunity is more interesting, but I will be really really busy and won’t be able to focus on my business.
The third one is on the backburner. I was to be in touch in a couple of weeks.
The thing is: in my heart I don’t really want to do any of these things. I would really just rather work on the business and see what materializes from that. If I could guarrantee my income for the next year, I would most certainly choose the option of working on Upside Guides. Not only do I love doing this, but I am also learning TONS. Much more than I ever did in my 9-to-5 job. Just yesterday, for example, I downloaded a Twitter info product from ClickBank (I’m going to experiment with affiliate programs) and I learned something new from each and every video in the product – even with my over 13 years’ experience in building interactive web sites. I talked about this with Kevin, the guy who gave me the idea to do my business, and we both agree that there is something to be said for doing the work. Examining this stuff closely means that you get to understand the true reality of how these piece fit together. And for the first time in a while, I’m pretty excited by what I’m doing and the potential and possibilities.
My problem right now is staying focused. I have so many business ideas (just another came to me last night as I was thinking through how I would execute am experiment in affiliate programs). Although the business model is set up to launch sites, I don’t want to spread myself so thin that none of them are successful.
One challenge in my business model will be that each site will need to earn enough revenue to be able to support someone maintaining them. I’m pretty aware of my strengths and weaknesses: I like to conceive and kick-start ideas, but once they are going, I get bored. I might fool myself into thinking that this would be different for my own business, but the reality is that it probably won’t be. It’s best if I hire someone to maintain the sites for me.
The other thing is: if I am bogged down by maintaining the sites, I will not be able to do what I really should be doing – thinking of and launching more sites. I also won’t be able to step away from the business if I am required each and everyday to maintain the sites.
I suppose these thoughts are all in a day’s work!
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