Page 93 - The $100 Startup_ Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love

had a minimum order of fifty units for a cost of $500. It was a lot to spend when
they only needed one map, but the project had come to mean more than just a
print, so Jen and Omar each put down $250. They loved the final result and hung
one of the maps on the wall … leaving forty-nine maps with no obvious purpose.
They gave a few out to friends … and still had forty-four. Finally, Omar asked a
crazy question: Would anyone want to buy the remaining prints?

They made a one-page website, added a PayPal button, and went to bed. The
morning after making their work available for purchase, they woke up to their
first sale. Then they made another sale, and then another. Thanks to a surprise
mention on a popular design forum, they sold out of their first print run in ten
minutes and had tons of messages begging for a reprint. Could this be the answer
to designer burnout?

Over the next few months, Jen and Omar introduced more styles and acted on
new ideas: a New York City subway map, for example, and a neighborhood-
themed map of San Francisco. The plan was to grow steadily but not introduce
new products without a valid reason. As good designers, they understood that
everything in the store had to be essential. They also understood that although
some customers would make more than one purchase, the best way the
customers could help was by referring other buyers and fans.

Nine months in, both of them had quit their day jobs to work full-time on the
business. “This project has totally restored our passion for design,” says Omar.
“It feels so liberating to have creative control. It’s been an incredible opportunity
for us to grow as designers. I feel like our work has progressed more in the past
year than it ever has.”

Jen and Omar began with an idea, kept costs low, and didn’t wait long before
stepping forward with a product. Then they adapted to the marketplace response
(make more maps!) and built each new product carefully. “It’s funny, because
we’re both obsessive planners,” Jen told me. “But this project had almost no
planning whatsoever in the beginning, and now it’s our full-time work.”

The Action Bias

Plan? What plan? Many of our case studies showed a pattern similar to Jen and
Omar’s: Get started quickly and see what happens. There’s nothing wrong with
planning, but you can spend a lifetime making a plan that never turns into action.
In the battle between planning and action, action wins. Here’s how you do it.