As we work on bringing our new EZTrackIt package tracking software to market, I’ve been getting sucked down the rabbit hole of trying to make each feature of the product work perfectly. But I know if we had allowed ourselves to get stuck in the madness of perfecting every part, we’d never finish the whole.
For example, our central goal for this product was to make the software completely intuitive, so it could be deployed in any mail room or front desk and go to work instantly to track inbound and internal packages. So, right on the first screen, we created simple fields for the name of the carrier, type of parcel, and notes. Three hours later we were still debating how many fields to have and what to name each field for maximum ease of use. We were trying for perfection, and at the rate we were going, we weren’t going to make the launch date.
We decided to re-prioritize and adopt “80% is the new 100%.”* We streamlined the fields for what most people would need most of the time, and instead of trying to guess what some people would need some of the time – we enabled user customization. Our product works really well, and if someone needs it to work a little differently, we’ve allowed for that – which never would have happened if we had insisted on going for that 100!
Our new product is on the verge of being finished, and “80% is the new 100%” has become my personal mantra while we see it through this last development phase. Will we get everything perfectly right and catch all the bugs right out of the gate? No. But that shouldn’t stop us from moving forward, making changes, and improving what we have.
If you’re still not convinced that “80% is the new 100%,” consider this: Trying too hard to cover all of your bases may not only hinder your growth, but actually harm your business.
You see this at restaurants all the time. McDonald’s used to have a simple menu of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, milkshakes, soda, and apple pie. Now their menu is bloated into at least a hundred items with nuggets and salads and parfaits. Their stock is going down, while the business outlook for chains like Five Guys and In-n-Out has never been brighter. If you’re not familiar with Five Guys or In-n-Out, they serve hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, milkshakes, and soda. No apple pie.
Simplify. Streamline. And when it’s at 80% of where you want it, call it good for now and move on. There are so many other projects stuck at 30% that need your attention!
*This tip works for business development, mail room management, and composing blog posts. Really, the applications are endless.
Source: HubSpot
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