Maybe I’m Going About This All Wrong…

I see opportunities everywhere. Every few days, I think of something interesting enough to record as a possible business or product. These days I make a point these days to write this stuff down in my ‘Projects’ list and periodically review this list for stuff to explore. I keep my project list prioritized by a combination of obligation (stuff I’m committed to do), viability (can I do it), profit (how much is it worth) and cash flow (when would I get paid) potential. I’m usually working on a couple of things at once, and one of my biggest daily challenges is to stay focused on the predetermined priorities and not spend time on the new, interesting opportunity I just thought of.

The problem is, when I look at my list I inevitably feel strongly that some of the stuff needs to get done sooner than I’ll get to it given current plans. I usually respond to this perception by trying to do more – adding a couple of extra hours to my day, for example, to research or prototype the new idea. And of course I always feel overloaded or behind, because even if I’m in a good place with my current project(s), I’ve got all this pressing stuff to do later on in the list. Complicating this is the fact that while most of my ‘pet projects’ are independent ventures where I am the sole beneficiary, most of the stuff at the top of the list are things I’m committed to do for other people  – my clients. I need to service clients to maintain current cash flow, whereas all of my pet projects would, if successful, provide passive income. So I’m spending my energy generating short term rewards at the expense of potential long term independence. That doesn’t seem right.

So maybe I need to change how I think about all of this – particularly about the things on my list that are good ideas for passive income generation that I don’t have time to do personally.  Outsource.  If I didn’t have any programming skill or experience, this would be a no-brainer. I have two ideas that are each fairly simple to implement, but potentially very useful within their niches to help small businesses make money or satisfy customers. Instead of letting them languish until I have ’spare time’, I should probably pay someone else to build them. My problem is that I like to program, I’m pretty good at it, and I’m cheap. But in this case these characteristics are counterproductive.

While it feels riskier to spend money on development (rather than do it myself), in fact it’s probably the opposite.

~ by kindablue on February 6, 2009.