It’s been almost a year and a half since I started the VisiOlo project. And during that time, VisiOlo has gone from an idea, to a concept, to a spec, to a prototype, to a multi-stage beta, and now, to a functioning software and membership site.

It’s been slower than I expected, more expensive than I expected, more intense than I expected, and more rewarding than I expected.  This project has been surprising, challenging, frustrating, and interesting, but most of all, it has had a galvanizing effect on how I look at and operate my business.

One of my old bosses used to say “when you drain the swamp, the stumps rise to the surface.”  What he meant by that is when resources are scarce and sales slow down, that is when you start to see the ugly stuff that lives under the smooth surface of a full lake.

That kind of explains the effect this project has had on my business, but not quite.  For me, this project hasn’t been so much about exposing the stumps as it has been about pushing the envelope of resources and expertise in a focused direction — this kind of push will reveal your weak points, for sure.

So, because this time of year is naturally conducive to both looking back and looking forward, and because I want my prospects and customers to understand where we are coming from, I’ve given some thought to the core operating principles we use at VisiOlo.  These are the ‘rules of engagement’ in our business — they are the basic components of our culture.  These are the principles upon which this business operates.

1. Focus on the Core
2. Prototype and Iterate
3. Consistent, Paced Improvement
4. Share Information
5. Create Indispensable, Everyday Tools
6. Remove Complexity from the Process

I’ll briefly explain each of these principles below, but this will just scratch the surface, so I’ll follow-up with more in-depth posts later.

Focus on the Core

I think focus, or lack thereof, is one of the biggest challenges Infopreneurs face — self included . Everyone knows about focus in general, but what I’ve found helpful is to look at focus in my company in light of four different elements:

• • Audience: Who is our ideal prospect? What are their core needs?
  • Best At: What are we better at than anyone in the world?
  • #1 Project: What is our most important project? Is this project a good combination of what our audience needs and what we are best at?
  • Next Step: What do we need to do next to move closer to completion of #1 project?

If we are clear about who our audience is, and we are focused on what we are best at (as a company), and we are focused on our highest priority project, and that project is a good match between what our audience needs and what we are best at, and we know what our next step is, I feel that we are focused on the right things and the rest of the details will fall into place.

Prototype and Iterate

Nothing beats a prototype for moving a project forward quickly. But, more importantly, prototypes also are the perfect tool for gathering user feedback.  The idea behind ‘prototype and iterate’ is this: the faster you can get a working prototype in the hands of users, the better. This applies not only to new product development, but also to business processes, brands, messaging, positioning, feature development — basically anything you want to create ends up better and becomes ‘real’ faster if you focus on getting the prototype made and into the hands of users. Then you get feedback, and go back and make the next iteration of your prototype.

• • Prove it Early: If it sounds like a good idea, prove it (early) by getting it in front of users.
  • Make it Small Enough to Deploy Quickly: The only way to move quickly, is to start small, so make the first step as small as possible, then make it smaller, then ask ourselves how it could be even smaller.  We, essentially, want the smallest first step that can generate revenue.
  • Iterate Based on User Feedback and Input: There is only way one way to learn how effective a product is, and that is to let our Ideal Prospect experience it and tell us what they think of it.  A little feedback can go a long way to aligning our solutions with the audience.
  • Consistent ‘Paced’ Improvement: Consistent improvement is, in my opinion, one of the secrets of running a profitable business.  But I also like to have ‘paced’ in there because I’ve found that we have to find our own pace if we want to last for the long haul.  It’s all about starting from where you are, then slowly increasing speed as you gain resources and streamline processes.

Facilitate the Free exchange of Information in our Topic Area

I’ve always enjoyed sharing what I know about Internet Marketing and running a digital publishing business and also advancing that knowledge through learning from others.  But, until recently, I’ve not had a really great platform for sharing my knowledge and that of my team.  VisiOlo was intentionally structured in a way that allows us to share our knowledge much more freely.

After the initial VisiOlo launch, we’ve got some exciting projects planned that will give Infopreneurs unrestricted free access to a large body of information about how to sell effectively online.  In a related project, we are considering a partnership with a non-profit, open-source repository of Infopreneur reference resources. If it pans out, it will be very cool .

Create Indispensable, Everyday Tools

A core focus would not be complete at VisiOlo without this key principle because what we are about is creating great tools for Infopreneurs.   But we don’t just want to create tools, we want to create tools that our users would not want to live without and ones they use every day.

Related posts:

1. Focus on The Core (Applied) As I completed my last post, which was about...
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