Hey! Brian Casel here.  As a reminder, you're subscribed to this here newsletter where I share my notes and conversations about products, business and life.. Not into it? You can unsubscribe.

For now, I want to reflect on how difficult it can be to actually make a major change in your business.  Because, as we all know, it's always easier to just keep doing what we've been doing.

If you've followed my story, then you know I've made quite a few changes through the years.  Probably more than most.  I'm not necessarily proud of this.  But I think I've gotten better at knowing when to change, and honing my process for gaining confidence that I'm heading in the right direction.

Here are a few notes on what I've learned about changing direction:

1.  Change vs no change?

That's question number one. 

I start by determining whether my current direction is still worth pursuing.  Are there signs of progress?  Are there things I haven't tried yet?  Have I given the current direction the best chance of success?

Or is staying the course actually more risky than going in a new direction?

2.  Research & exploration

Next, I need to gather data.

Gut instinct may have started this process.  But I can't justify a rash move until I can build a case with real data and evidence to support (or negate) the next move.

In 2022, I spent much of the year in deep customer research mode.  I held many customer interviews (using the jobs-to-be-done approach), analyzed my product's user trends, and researched new markets.

Eventually, every customer interview starts to sound shockingly similar.  Same stories, same pain points, same words, same needs. 

This is when a potential change starts to feel exciting...

3.  Sanity check

But I'm not ready to pull the trigger on this change just yet.

Next I need a sanity check from my close circle of advisors:  My mastermind groups and long-time founder friends who know me and my history well. They help me connect dots that may seem obvious to an outsider, but aren't clear to me since I'm too close to it.

I bring my proposed new direction, along the with the supporting data I've gathered, and "pitch" my case, asking my advisors to poke holes and sanity check my logic.

4.  Mentally embrace the change

OK.  Change needs to happen.  Change is going to happen.

But today, nothing has actually changed yet.  It's still easier to remain stuck in today's day-to-day, grinding through busy-work and procrastinating on taking action to change.

This is when I psych myself into it:  Accept that today's state of things is temporar.   y.  Embrace the fact that change must happen in order to make progress.  I start thinking about my business like a sling shot.  Now is when I'm pulling back the sling, loading up energy, anticipating the release soon enough...

5.  Organize and execute the change

I've decided to change.
I've researched and justified the change.
I've sanity-checked my direction.
I've mentally embraced the change.

Now the hard part:  Putting in the work. 

Executing of this change now takes priority over everything else.  Today's "fires" can take a backseat.  Tomorrow's new direction is what's important.  This means choosing the right projects to work on.  Each one is a chess move that takes us closer to the goal of moving into a new direction.

...Which brings us to today.  My business is about to change.  My process to get here has been almost a year in the making.

I'll tell you all about it next week ;)

-Brian
@casjam

Last week in ZipMessage— we shipped a bunch of big updates (see em here)

• Resigned sidebar, with open/closed states, cleaner organization, and more tagging and filtering.
• New "Library" to store your content templates
• Turn entire threads into thread templates (with multiple messages in them).
  
  

But mostly, my work has been focused on the new direction...

Jordan and I have both been working hard to drive major changes in our respective businesses.  It's interesting how we each approach our personal focus and energy in our businesses in different ways.

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