Ev BogueIt's been awhile since we talked about minimalist businesses.
The idea was first forged in my mind nearly two years ago when I first struck out to make a living from my work, directly from the Internet.
I'd been tethered to a job. I knew that I was creating value, but how much? It was hard to tell. I knew how much I was making, but I didn't know how much the company was making. Every day I got on the train, got off the train, and made the long trek from the subway platform to the office.
The entire time? I wondered. There must be more to life than this -- and there was.
Now I'm my own boss, a distinction that means so much more than simply abandoning an office. In the last two years, my entire relationship to my work has shifted. I no longer see the work as an obligation, instead it's a craft. Every day is an adventure into the unknown world that is the Internet.
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Here's what I've been asking my minimalist business lately:
How can I experiment?
Whether it's design, architecture, ad copy, coding, editing, interaction, or sitting back to put my finger on the pulse of the flow around me. I'm constantly asking the question: am I experimenting?
If I haven't experimented, I've plateaued.
A minimalist business experiment is this:
1. Implement.
Make a decision about a strategy and put it into action.
2. Measure.
An experiment without measurement isn't an experiment, it's throwing spaghetti at a wall. The only true measurement of a minimalist business is money. Let's measure money, nothing else.
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Did the strategy you implemented result in more sales in the short term? Did it result in large speaking/consulting gigs in the long term?
If it didn't, there's always another option: untether.
An MB doesn't dwell on a strategy that doesn't work, repeating the question of: "will this work?" over and over again. Instead, he takes a moment to ask the hard question. Is this supporting the business or hurting it?
The only way to know if an experiment is working is to measure. -Ev