Rework Reflections: Take three - Go!

This is the third post about Rework, one of the hottest “management” books just now. I’m reviewing it chapter by chapter, reflecting the ideas against my own thoughts and the the life in Fruugo. This post will cover the chapter called Go.

Make a dent in the universe

Point of the book: you must feel that you are making a difference, that you are doing something that is important. And you must have a feeling of urgency to make this happen.

No disagreement here. Personally I’ve always looked for jobs, where I can be passionate about something. For me this is very important – passion and purpose make your work much more meaningful and interesting. This is a no-brainer for Fruugo as well. There is so much unnecessary complexity on the international e-commerce scene – things are not simple for for the consumer, nor are they for the retailers trying to sell across the borders within Europe. This is our dent: make cross-border shopping pleasant, secure and inspiring for both consumers and retailers.

We believe that we can make a difference. And we are passionate about it. There we go.

Scratch your own itch

Choose a product or service that you personally need and want to use. That’s what the book suggests, and this is obviously an ideal situation. It’s easy to be passionate about something that you want and need yourself. However, not all new businesses have that luxury – the products must meet the needs of people, who may not be like you. In fact, there is a danger that you end up building something that you love… but what if you don’t belong to the primary target group of a product or service? I would say that if you can’t use yourself as the source of passion, be sure to find someone who fits the purpose. Somebody, who belongs to the target group and who can act as a passionate judge for your product or service.

I think that we in Fruugo have improved a lot in this respect, but we can still do better…

Start making something & No time is no excuse

I’m bundling these two together, as they are both very straightforward and easy to agree with. Lack of time is rarely a good excuse for not starting something new – you can always find time for important things – it’s really a matter of priorities. And I actually believe that lack of time is often not the real problem. Things tend to move forward in little steps, but nothing happens unless you take the first step. And then the next. Usually the time is wasted in hesitation and planning the steps – not in taking the actual steps. So when you have problems in getting something going, you may be lacking courage and initiative, but confuse it with the lack of time.

Draw a line in the sand

So you are out there to make that dent in the universe. Build on that and make sure you understand what is in the core of your business idea. Focus fiercely on the important things, and don’t be afraid of turning your back on others. Everybody won’t like you, but don’t worry about that. If you are good enough for everyone, you won’t be great for anyone. That’s my take on this chapter, and I like it.

We’ve had our challenges regarding this advice in Fruugo. There have been lots of different options available regarding the development direction and positioning of the service. As a result, we’ve had lots of stuff on the plate all the time. Priorities are more crystallized now, but there is always room for improvement.

Mission statement impossible

Mission statements are worth nothing, if they are just empty words. They don’t mean a thing, if your team is not believing and living them.

Agree 100%. And even if your team believes and lives the mission statement, it may not be enough. You want your customers describing your company to their friends using the words of the mission statement. When that’s happening, your are doing OK!

Outside money is Plan Z & You need less than you think

I’ll tackle these two together as well – starting with the latter one.

You can get by with less than you think. This is an important piece of advice – it is easy to get ahead of the true needs, while you and your colleagues are busy changing the world. You want to have your business ready for the inevitable growth that is just around the corner. Unfortunately, you probably guessed the future wrong. Even if things go well, there will be surprising learnings and changes of priorities along the way. Odds are high that you’ve prepared your company for something that will never happen, or something that will happen but not as soon as you expect it to. So… don’t rush into things, but be cool and calm, let the pressure come. Choose your next steps. And then – make sure your team can handle the critical things.

In Fruugo we’ve made our share of mistakes regarding this principle. We prepared a bit too eagerly against the early, ambitious plans of the company. As a result, we made some investments too early – both in technology and in resourcing. We had the staff in place for heavy marketing activities and customer care personnel long before we really had the need. Lots of these early investments become handy now that the business is picking up, but a different route would have made certain things easier.

Which takes us to the first wisdom about avoiding outside money as long as possible. This principle makes sense to many start-ups taking the first steps – if that’s the route you want to take. In all cases it is important to avoid the toxic side-effects of having “plenty of money”. But on the other hand, boot-strapping your company often means that the pace of growth will be slower compared to the speed you might achieve with more resources. Is this OK or not? Well, it depends on your situation at any given point of time: the market, your product, your strategy, and so on. No absolute truth here – there never is.

Fruugo obviously didn’t choose the boot-strapping route. Referring to my comments above about some investments having been made too early, it would have been possible to proceed with less outside money. But then, Fruugo’s business model is based on the value adding role we take in facilitating cross-border e-commerce in Europe. This requires investments in complex product data management capabilities, handling of multiple currencies, understanding VAT-rules and consumer protection laws in different countries etc. Fruugo’s business model requires more upfront investments than perhaps in most other web-startups.

Start a business, not a startup

Make sure you introduce the targets, drivers and constraints of a real business to your company as early as possible. This means that you start managing your revenues, and costs with a true business mindset. (Did I already remind you, great stuff and offers here!) This makes sense, but all businesses are different. As discussed above, the initial investments and time required before the revenue phase can in some cases be a bit longer than in other cases. However, in Fruugo’s case it might have been beneficial to aim at starting the business phase a bit faster, using a slightly simplified business model and technical solution and start expanding from there.

Building to flip is building to flop

You need a commitment strategy, not an exit strategy – that’s the message. To me, the key point regarding this is already covered above. If you have passion to making the dent, then the key driver for you and the team should be to making the idea fly, not planning the exit strategy. Good things will follow later if the business succeeds.

That’s it – another chapter covered. Interesting topics, great insights in the book again. All comments appreciated – as always! I think I’ll go and draw some shapes in the sand…

BTW, I just chose a new pair of shades from our selection of over 3000 models… Go get ready for the sunny summer by treating yourself with a pair as well.

Happy shopping,

Juha Usva, CEO