Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on Seattle 2.0, and imported to GeekWire as part of our acquisition of Seattle 2.0 and its archival content. For more background, see this post.

By Alyssa Royse

Those of us whose businesses have a large web component are pretty used to making a huge list of required features for our web sites. Once complete, we look at the terrifying list and start prioritizing those features into phases based on how they serve both the consumer and our business goals. Although we want it all, it’s pretty easy to see that while we need our customers to be able to log in at day one, we can probably put off those automated and animated birthday greetings until some time in the future.

This same style of prioritization should also be applied to our business infrastructure and org chart. Ironically, it often means putting things like “making money” into the “some time in the future” column. Although that may seem counterintuitive, it also may be a very good way to raise the right amount of money money, build the right product and set the right expectations.

Backing up….  I had coffee with a good (and really cute and smart) friend the other day who is “kind of a big deal” in online advertising. I was running through my soon-to-launch company and various ad strategies, because advertising is one of the revenue streams. Having finished my schpeel, I asked him what to do. His response, “Don’t even bother.” Clarifying, he went on to say, don’t even think about it, for at least a year.

But, but but but…..  My entrepreneur brain was reeling. How can I ignore a revenue stream? How can I not hit the pavement as hard as possible to make money? WHAT?

Of course, he is right. Even trying to think about ad sales at this point would take time, money, energy and focus away from things that really need to get done first – build the product well enough to attract the users that advertisers want. More than that, it creates constant disappointment from NOT succeeding at selling ads for a year or so anyway. (I have NOT given up on JUST CAUSE, but looking back at it, I really wish I had simply decided not to even think about ad sales until we were at least a year in, for all of those reasons.)

Since not everyone is selling ads, I can’t tell you what you should be cutting off of your list, but I think it’s fairly safe to suggest some simple stepping stones that should be nailed before you think about spending time, money and “goodwill” on the next.

1. Map out your business for the next few years. Look at things like product releases, customer growth, and the “behind the scenes” efforts that it will take to make money and grow. Including staffing, sales, dev etc…

2. Put them in order of what MUST come first and what CANNOT happen until something else happens. (In my case, I can’t sell ads until I have enough users, which I won’t have until I have a kick-ass product and good marketing. So, don’t even think about ads until the product is done, followed by the marketing.)

3. Go through them and figure out what you actually don’t need at all. (Like the automated animated birthday greetings.) It is tempting to spend money on things like office space and receptionists, but will they, directly, help you get your product to market? Whether you’re bootstrapping or not, don’t spend money on things you don’t need and that don’t get your product to market. If you can get the job done in each other’s living rooms and coffee shops, do it until the money spent wouldn’t be more productively spent on something else.

4. Make a timeline based on all that.

5. Add 3 to 6 months to everything. Build your budget and expectations on that!

Part of this is just getting good and clear on the difference between what you want and what you need. What you need is to get your product to market and have it start making money for you. What you want is the trappings of success – offices, cool computers, a killer staff. Those “wants” will come, after you take care of the “needs.” But, by focusing on the “wants” that you aren’t ready for, you’ll spend a lot of time NOT having them met, which will kill morale, distract you from taking care of the “needs,” and waste a lot of valuable resources.
________
Alyssa Royse is bootstrapping again, which is great, because she loves boots, and it’s autumn anyway. She has the best & most smartest friends in the universe and is eternally grateful to them for everything from advice to uncontrollable laughter and feeding her love of both tequila and scotch. She NEEDS her friends, tequila, scotch and good boots.

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.