What is a minimum viable solution?
I’m a huge proponent of minimum viable solutions…
Start with something that’s good enough, see if it works for you, then tweak, iterate and improve as needed.
For good enough, I don’t mean garbage. It does need to be GOOD for it to be good enough. Good enough isn’t perfect and that’s a good thing.
Needing perfection is the enemy of making progress. Perfection is like the horizon, you can aim for it but you can never get there. We can spend hours, days, weeks, even months trying to get something “perfect” and never get there. In business, that much wasted time means money lost.
Perfect doesn’t exist. That’s why it’s such a time suck.
But you know what does exist? Good enough, your minimum viable solution, so aim there.
Do I need a website when I’m just starting in business?
I was a service provider for years without having my own website. And without having my own email list.
I got clients through word-of-mouth referrals. I was able to make money and validate that my services, what I had to offer the world, were indeed worth paying for.
Should I have created a website sooner? Maybe, that’s debatable.
Should I have started an email list sooner? Heck yes!
Did any of that stop me from making a living? Nope!
So I challenge you… rather than fussing over a website, get your first few paying clients or customers before you spend all that time to pretty up a fancy, full blown website.
That way, you’ll validate that what you want to offer is something that others will be willing to pay for. I cannot stress this enough.
Get those first paying clients.
Spread the word.
Reach out to your network.
Let folks know what you’re offering.
A quick note on validating your offer
My advice? Don’t work for free to validate your offer.
There’s a big difference between what people will accept as a service or product, and the type of feedback you’ll get, if they get it for free versus paying for it.
True offer validation comes from knowing folks will part with their cash for what you have to offer.
Your minimum viable website setup for starting in business
As I mentioned above, having your own real estate online is helpful.
If you want a website, I’m not saying don’t make one. What I’m saying is not to get hung up on it.
In fact, here’s how to do it quickly and easily (so that you can move on to getting clients and getting paid).
Set up a one page website.
Yup, just one page.
Make it a “coming soon” page.
On that page,
- put your name,
- a couple sentences about what you do, and
- a way for folks to contact you.
Don’t overthink this, keep it simple.
An optional but highly recommended step:
- Include a form on the page for folks to join your email list.
You can frame it as “get the best tips for xyz right to your inbox and be the first to know about my new/upcoming services” or any variation of something like that.
If you don’t have an email service provider yet, use my quiz-style guide to help your decision making process to get started with one that suits you best.
Websites for starting your online business – in conclusion
If you’re not moving forward with your business because you don’t have a website up and running yet… set up a one page website with your contact information and move on. Spending months trying to create the perfect website doesn’t make you money. Selling your products or services to people makes you money.
And remember to add a form on your one page website or folks to start joining your email list. Having an audience to sell your products or services to will be your single most valuable asset if you treat it right.
Don’t have an email marketing software platform yet?
