The Antidote to Serious Business

“If it doesn’t make money, it’s not a product, it’s a project.”
“You have to be ready for some gruelling months with a slow climb.”
“Build it and they will come, that doesn’t work. You have to dedicate half your time, maybe more, to marketing.”

We don’t have to buy into the idea that business has to be so serious. We don’t want to run the risk of becoming stiff, hardened, analytical and calculating. No need to become a party-pooper, we got into this because it’d be fun to try.

The antidote is the idea that people — all people including me and you — at some point we want to make progress.

You created that product because you wanted progress of your own. Sure, it might not sell that much, but you created some skills, you created some momentum, you learned about yourself.

Your own progress, you got a taste of it. You worked on some of your feelings. You developed an intuition.

Next, the shift to make is this: learn about the progress that someone else wants to make.

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An executive might be looking very serious when asking you for an estimate, but really, they’re still trying to make progress. “Will you help me secure a win so I can take this success to my next career move? I’ve been trying to get people in who just get it.”

The owner of the hair salon wasn’t interested in your scheduling software, but really, they’re still trying to make progress. “Will you help me get an email list going so I don’t have to rely on my social media feed? I’m fed up with building followings I can’t reach unless I pay up.”

The SaaS founder might not have signed up for your own SaaS, but really, they’re still trying to make progress. “Will you take care of this workflow we spend a lot of time tweaking? I’d prefer us working on the part of the business we’re good at.”

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The idea of progress is a little more natural, a little more pliable and fertile.

Yes, freelancing and product work is serious business. You knew that already. But people act on feelings and intuitions too. You can use that to your advantage.

Lucky you. You’ve been learning about your own feelings and your own intuitions.

When things get serious, you’ll have something more natural to fall back to.