Nine months on (and with a live site!) I do finally feel as though we are on the right track. On reflection, I spent too much time working on the wrong things, and wasted time listening to the wrong advice. Still, I’ve learnt a lot, and I think as long as you take something away from those experiences, then they aren’t a complete loss — although the money isn’t coming back!
A week on from our launch, getting feedback from early adopters will be crucial. This first stage of our rollout will also provide us with a great deal of useful data about how our customers use our product, and will also begin to generate some income — which will be welcome!
As difficult as the whole process has been, I don’t think I would want to change it even if I could. The experiences have taught me so much — I feel a much more capable entrepreneur as a result. The process has been quite different from my first business, and I think one of the main reasons we are now making progress has been maintaining a determination to make this work — no matter what it takes. That means sticking with it, and having a steadfast belief in the product and in ourselves.