by Rafael Romis, CEO of Weberous
A lot of small business owners want everything to be perfect before they launch a business. During my time as a web designer and later running my own web design company, I’ve seen countless small business owners agonize over the size and placement of their logo on their websites.
They want to put a box around it, they want it to be 50% bigger, they want it to be on the right side, then the left side, then in the center… then back to the right.
As long as it looks professional and it’s visible on your site, your logo is just fine.
Perfectionism as Procrastination.
The real reason some new business owners obsess over things like their logo and its placement on their website so much is to subconsciously avoid having to actually start their business.
It’s like when a writer comes up with a thousand different tasks to do when it comes time to actually sit down and write.
That blank page is scary to look at because you have to fill it with words and that new business is scary because you have to fill it with customers. Obsessing over the logo (or similar details) can quickly become procrastination disguised as perfectionism.
Entrepreneurs often want to wait for the perfect time to launch their business, but there is no such thing as the perfect time to start. It can be difficult to hear, but the stars are never going to align like you think they will.
Imperfect Action is Better than no Action.
When you launch your business, you just need to take that first step and get started. It’ll be bumpy, but you’ll learn quickly and garner valuable information, which you wouldn’t be getting if you hadn’t taken that first step and started on your journey.
I was recently asked to appear on a new US-based podcast for entrepreneurs and when I checked out the website, I discovered it had launched on Dec. 23. Who launches a podcast right before Christmas when listening to an as-yet-unknown podcast is the last thing on anyone’s mind?
While I did question their timing, I had to admire the way they didn’t let the fact that it was the holiday season affect their plans to get this podcast going.
It wasn’t the perfect time to launch a podcast, but they did it and I’m sure they are getting valuable information from it (like maybe wait just a couple of weeks until the slow period in January to launch a new podcast).
The Value of “Good Enough”.
The phrase “good enough” can sometimes be seen as a bad one to use in business. We never want to stop at good enough. Things should be perfect. Your logo, your website, your timing, your home office space, they all need to be flawless.
Except they don’t.
Things will never be perfect, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get started. Experience and hard work almost always trump perfect timing or having a perfect site, so getting started on your business is crucial to get that valuable experience. Perfection is something you’ll always be chasing but never achieving.
Instead, learn to embrace “good enough.” You can always improve things later, but if it’s good enough to get started, then go ahead and start.
CNBC small-business correspondent Kate Rogers said it best in a recent video she did that the one thing she often hears from the small business owners she talks with is they regret not getting started sooner and they didn’t get started sooner because they were waiting for the right time.
Don’t have that regret.
Stop fussing so much about the minute details and launch that business. You’ll see just how trivial those details seem once you get started. If everything is good enough to get started, then get started.
Rafael Romis founded web design agency Weberous in 2011 to help businesses stand out and boost their online presence. Originally from Greece, Rafael lives in Los Angeles and when he’s not working at Weberous, he offers business and marketing consulting to small businesses.
