Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur – The Launch

There is nothing that creates more excitement and anxiety than the launch of a new product. And as I sit here eight days away from our launch (Jan 14) of gofer.run it is all starting to hit me again.  We are madly working on all aspects of the launch from final upgrades of the app to finalizing the marketing plan. This will be my last kick at this can for One Red Maple as this is our pivot. So, this year is a make or break it year and I could really use your help! (see how to help at the end). It is so difficult to break through the noise to find your followers and even harder on a boot strap budget.  Gina and I have decided we would loan the company up to another $150,000 to extend the runway and give us a shot at making this happen. So given the lost salary for both of us for five years and our initial investment of $200,000 we are already in for a couple of million. It is the deep breath before the plunge.

Consumers are a funny bunch, and I am not sure I would recommend a consumer business as the place to start in the world of entrepreneurism.  While One Red Maple needs to get paid at some point for this app, we are going to run it for free as long as possible before we start charging.  The sole purpose for doing so is to build a base of satisfied users and prove to them the value of the app before we ask them to pay us. Sounds easy enough but when we tell people we will save them 100’s of dollars a month they are suspicious and they need the proof.  Even when you give them proof some will still not pay $4.99 per month to save $100s. Illogical but that is the consumer.

Now we have done many focus groups and incorporated many of the ideas into the app but there comes a time when you need to see what the masses are doing while using the app.  This I feel is the only way to understand consumer behaviour.  What are they clicking on and what are they using.  There are only two metrics that really matter in this space and one metric is MAU’s (monthly active users).  The other metric is engagement – how long are they using the app per month. If both of these are growing month over month you have a winner.  Naturally the engagement will peak before MAU but both should be growing. The rest of the statistics are to tell us what is working and what is not.  For different functions we need to understand whether there is a user education problem (is the function confusing to use?) or is it just not popular.  This is where lively internal discussions happen and you need stats to back up your story. I always prefer lively discussion as I prefer people that will speak up and tell their opinion as it means they are passionate about what they are doing.  I have never had a discussion where my initial thoughts have not been changed even if just a little.  A well-thought-out group decision is always better than a sole individual decision.  If your boss does not listen to your input nor asks for it, find another job. And if you are invited to a decision-making meeting and you say nothing, start looking for a job. I have always said argue as much as you want about the decision and make your case, but do not make it personal.  If the decision doesn’t go your way, implement the decision with the same vigor you would have if you won. Many times, my mind has changed, and the new decision is superior and my willingness to go through that process is always worth it. If you understand dissent will lead to better decisions, then contribute and enjoy the process.

If you start with a base of 1,000 users and you can grow at the rate of 5% per week you will have approximately 1,000,000 users at the end of the year. If we reach 1,000,000 users our monthly income will be $5,000,0000 or $60,000,000 million annually. It seems easy but you can easily lose momentum at any point.  There are very few apps such as ChatGPT that skyrocket on day one. For most other apps it is a tough daily slog. So, you must find some different approaches to break through the noise. Here are some of the ideas we are going to try.

Weekly puppet show – Gofer and the Weasel (soon to be announced).  These are easy to do and have the potential to go viral. I still must find the voice of the Weasel.  (My experience doing puppet shows for my children is finally paying off!)

Intersection Walk – You may see me at an intersection near you as I walk it with my sign telling drivers about gofer.run.  If you see me give me a double hit on the horn for support. Remember what I said in my third post “never, ever, let your pride or fear of rejection get in the way of your success”.  And yes my wife does think I’m crazy.

Influencers – I don’t like the world of influencers, I feel like it is “money for nothing”.  However, I lost that debate and my director of marketing convinced me to try it so we will. I whole heartedly will follow her lead.  TikTok is the medium we will use here.

Social Media – I dislike most social media as well. I know it is a must these days.  Facebook’s ad manager is the most miserable interface I have ever used. Facebook should have never been allowed to purchase Instagram and if the US followed its anti collusion laws it would not have been allowed. I think these laws have been largely ignored and all advertisers are suffering. Competition is good for any marketplace; it drives innovation and keeps prices lower.

We are experimenting with Reddit.  Apparently, they are a delight to work with.  I have never heard delight and social media in the same sentence before – it will all come down to results.

Weekly “Weasel of the Week” post where we point out the price discretions between two exact same products will continue.

Now unlike normal marketing budgets where you can segment your dollars based on media type, company or function we are going to need to be much more nimble.  We have an overall budget of $150,000 but we will constantly be changing where that money is going based on results. To do anything else would be foolish.

We are not going to use any agencies. I would love an agency that puts skin in the game and only gets comped when you sell something, i.e. 10% of recurring revenue for each signed up paid user.  But I haven’t been able to find such a company – I don’t think any exists.

IF YOU CAN THINK OF ANY GOOD IDEAS SEND THEM MY WAY.  Send the bad ideas too – you never know what ideas they will spark!

So here I sit in trepidation. I know we have an app that people need, and I know we could be wildly successful, but all the best plans can go awry. I recently read a post by Maggie Arai on LinkedIn that kind of sums up how I feel about the world of business these days.  Her post was directed at Jeff Bezos and Amazon and I quote her:

 “I’m sick of watching the worst people get the biggest profits. Sick of seeing founders step on people and get rewarded for it. AND THEN, turn around and write “business playbooks” that tell you to lie, cheat, and steal. I want more GOOD people to be rich. I want to see business empires built on morals instead of manipulation.”

I will work to live up to the sentiments of Maggie Arai and many that feel the same but I NEED YOUR HELP!

How can you help?

• Please download gofer.run if you haven’t already.
• Please use the app every grocery trip.
• Please share the app with friends, relatives and coworkers (it’s easy to do – there is a button in the Settings area of the app.
• Please send me your ideas/suggestions/issues.
• Please like/share any ads you see on social media.

When you are going into battle you need a fire and brimstone song.  I fell in love with this song a short while ago – Archbishop Harold Holmes, by Jack White.  I love the video; John C. Reilly does a great job. Oh, and of course crank it.

“But you must tell seven friends” about gofer!