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"Justin is the Product Manager for\u00A0Industry Mailout.\u00A0He\u2019s passionate about building products that delight customers, and also blogs on\u00A0justinjackson.ca\u00A0and tweets via\u00A0@mijustin\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWhen you\u2019re trying to build your own product, it\u2019s easy to get in a rut. Stuff happens, and it affects your momentum: failed launches, procrastination, fear, not knowing where to start\u2026 all these things take their toll.\r\n\r\nBut 2014 is a new year. The new year is the perfect time to renew your energy, and actually\u00A0launch\u00A0something.\r\n\r\nHere\u2019s a framework for helping you succeed with your own product starting this January.\r\n\u201CThe best time to take action toward a dream is yesterday; the worst is tomorrow; the best compromise is today.\u201D\r\n\r\n~ Alvah Simon, Author\r\nWho is your audience, and what do they need?\r\nIt\u2019s time to go back to basics: who are your customers?\r\n\r\nIn the midst of building your product, you might have forgotten\u00A0about\u00A0who you\u2019re trying to serve with this\u00A0thing you\u2019re building.\r\n\r\nTake the beginning of January develop a clear vision of who your customer is, and what they need. Reach out to customers personally. Get a feel for who they are, what they do, and what they need help with.\r\n\r\nYou\u2019re not just developing software/writing a book/offering a download:\u00A0you\u2019re helping real people solve real problems.\r\n\u201C[Successful companies] create products for people in their audience \u2014 not some niche industry they discovered maybe needed software or books\u2026 they focused on helping people\u201D\r\n\r\n~ Amy Hoy,\u00A030\u00D7500\r\nWhat are you building, and why does it matter?\r\nNow, take a look at your product. What have you been building? Does it match up with what your customers need?\r\n\r\nMaybe that feature you were hammering on in 2013 just doesn\u2019t matter \u2013 it\u2019s OK to stop working on it. In fact, to succeed, you\u2019re going to need to focus on what\u00A0does\u00A0matter.\r\n\r\nWhere\u2019s the gap between what you currently provide, and the pain that your audience has?\r\n\u201CPeople don\u2019t buy software, they buy outcomes.\u201D\r\n\r\n~ Brennan Dunn,\u00A0Planscope\r\nFocus on one thing at a time\r\nTrying to solve multiple pain points all at once will spread you too thin. Pick the biggest pain point and focus on\u00A0just\u00A0that until it\u2019s shipped. Coming up with ideas for new features gives you a temporary high: it\u2019s invigorating to think about other projects you could work on. But the key to success is seeing one project through before starting on another.\r\n\r\nIf you\u2019re looking for a good organizational system, I recommendPersonal Kanban.\r\n\u201CThere\u2019s not much more important than focus and tenacity.\u201D\r\n\r\n~ Seth Godin,\u00A0(Source)\r\nRemove distractions\r\nIn order to really focus, remove every distraction that you can.\r\n\r\nJust sit in your office, and observe your impulses. What breaks your concentration?\r\n\r\nMaybe it\u2019s when the phone rings. Or a Twitter notification. Kids yelling? Bored of your surroundings?\r\n\r\nTake note of the things that keep you from getting your best work done, and try to minimize those things.\r\n\u201CEach time a worker was distracted from a task, it would take, on average, 25 minutes to return to that task.\u201D\r\n\r\n~ Clive Thompson,\u00A0Meet the Life Hackers\r\nDeal with personal issues\r\nYou\u2019ve observed what environmental distractions affect your productivity, but there\u2019s one more factor you need to consider. You have\u00A0internal\u00A0distractions as well: the stress in your life.\r\n\r\nIf you\u2019re worried about debt, a relational issue, your health, you\u2019re not going to make good decisions in other areas of your life (including business). Deal with those personal issues first!\r\n\r\nMore reading:\u00A0How stress affects your mental health.\r\nPut regular check-ups in your calendar\r\nIf you haven\u2019t already, make it a goal to schedule the following things in your company\u2019s calendar:\r\n\r\n\tQuarterly product check-up: are you on the right track? Are you helping customers with real needs?\r\n\tMonthly accountability group meeting: get together\u00A0with other folks building products. Share your struggles, questions, and successes.\r\n\tBigger events / conferences: plan to attend 1-2 conferences this year. Put them in your calendar now!\r\n\tQuarterly fun: plan something fun. Ideally, something every 3 months is ideal. This could be as simple as taking the afternoon off to go see a movie, or planning a weekend ski trip.\r\n\r\nJanuary is a great month to figure this stuff out\r\nIt\u2019s ok to take the month of January to go through the process:\r\n\r\n\tAsk \u201Cwho is your audience, and what do they need?\u201D\r\n\tAsk \u201Cwhat are you building, and why does it matter?\u201D\r\n\tPick the biggest pain point and make that your first focus for 2014\r\n\tObserve your work environment, and remove distractions\r\n\tThink about how you could reduce your individual stress\r\n\tPlan a calendar\r\n\r\nReady to build and launch your own product?"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2014/01/02/succeed-in-2014/>