“I want to start a business but I don’t know what to build”

The exact steps I took to figure out what my legacy defining business would be.

Unlocking what to build is exactly that; a lock that needs a key. The frustrating, but maybe comforting thing is that you possess both the lock and key right now. And maybe this post will help you introspectively kickstart your discovery of them. But the truth is, the business you are going to build is squarely under your nose right this second (and not the perfect one that exists in your imagination). Let me show you what I mean by how I came about founding Pip Decks.

There are probably a few component parts from my life that demonstrate this as an “obvious” business for me to build in hindsight - but not so at the time.

First part: the unique skill in my career. Throughout my career as a UX (user experience) designer, I got pretty good at running design workshops (getting people together and solving problems and making decisions in a structured manner). I wasn’t in love with doing it, but it yielded the best results than attempting to do that kind of work solo. And it set me apart from my peers that led to a fairly lucrative career.

Second part: solving problems for myself. Since I was a boy, I had been building things. One of the earliest memories is making my own Pokémon cards because I wasn’t allowed them. So in a sense, building to solve my own problem. There was always a reason to do something. I wasn’t one of those “for no greater purpose other than enjoying the flow of creating”. I always had a selfish motive.

Third part: becoming a generalist. Later in life I began to collaborate more with other people to make something greater than I could on my own. From online gaming communities, to hand drawn animation (which I ultimately loathed the process of, but getting selected by a Canadian film festival made it worth it), to an addictive app that got to #1 in the App Store (before being dethroned by Pokémon Go of all things). I was never turned off by the medium or a limiting belief that I wasn’t capable of doing it. I think this gave me a higher-than-average sense of curiosity about how to accomplish something.

And so when I hit the point in my career that I departed the cosy in-house role and took a leap into the world of contracting - I got exposed to many more businesses, people and problems. I sold myself on my workshopping prowess, but this created a problem. People were asking me what workshop to run, or for help on how to run a workshop.

I needed to get them off my back. So I started building.

The first version of Workshop Tactics was created, but only in earnest. I made it so I would be left alone! It went down well - but people kept asking me which tactic to start with. So, determined to get people off my back, I iterated it again. Now people could get started more easily, but they now they were asking me a new question: “which tactic should I do next?”. So I iterated it again. And again. And again. Until finally, I was largely left alone. I had put my workshopping brain into a box. Workshop Tactics was born.

Then I thought “what if…”

• What if I got these cards made up real nice?

• What if I designed them in a way that stood out?*

• What if I try and sold them to people similar to those I was working with?**

And so I did. And it was going great. After doing some pre-sale testing and email list building, I was off to the races. It seemed… easy? People were eager. And when I launched, this little side project was cruising at multiple sales a day by word of mouth! (Apparently this is what product-market-fit feels like). I had entered the typical e-commerce startup era where your living room becomes a fulfilment centre. This dopey little deck of cards was covering my monthly bills.

But you might be surprised to learn, I did not see it as a business. In fact I was still desperately clutching at the universe to reveal to me what my legacy defining business would be. For the best part of a year - as sales grew and as I started collaborating with Steve Rawling on Storyteller Tactics - I rejected the idea of being known as a founder of a “card deck company”. I was just having fun with this little side project.

But then I had to hire a team to help me keep up with the growing demands of the business. And fast forward three years, with a team of nearly 20 and hundreds of thousands of sales - I look back with incredulity how long I rejected this call to adventure for. It’s only now that I’ve employed a CEO coach, and given myself this title - that I am taking the whole thing much more seriously.

You see, I don’t think my story is uncommon. I think it’s a myth that there is a magical “aha!” moment and the business is born. For years I was soul-searching, tweaking, iterating, self-doubting.

When I look back, I think these are the characteristics that came together that allowed my business to come into existence:

• I was bathing in the problem (with my potential customers and their struggle) throughout my career for so long, that making a solution for them felt obvious and largely uneventful. This creates a kind of blind spot for the potential of what you have made.

• I had an inclination for action and “finding out”. I probably owe my sense of curiosity and determinedness for solving my own problem (the real problem!) of getting people off my back.

• My skill set leading up to this point (web / brand design / UX / print design / workshopping) was a perfect storm to make the product possible.

I think ultimately, “what is the business I am going to create going to be?” is the wrong question to ask.

Perhaps even starting a business for the sake of starting one is the wrong way to go. There’s a kind of weird. power in building un-ambitiuously and earnestly.

It’s probably hard to unconsciously start a business in the way I’ve told you I did, and maybe I’ve cursed you with this knowledge that might prevent you from doing so.

But the maybe useful (maybe not) advice is this: be receptive to the cards the universe has and is dealing you:

• what is your unique skill that no one else you know can do?

• what other eclectic abilities do you have, that you’ve been able to do for a long time? these will be obvious to you when you ask “what work doesn’t feel like work but feels like play?”

• what struggle or desire do you have, or do you notice other people having? (this is hard because - like a fish in water - if you’ve been around it so long it’s almost impossible to see)

• how can you make something quickly and cheaply to see if it’s a solvable problem?

Now, it's your turn. Reflect on these questions: the skills that set you apart, the problems that stir your passion, and the solutions only you can offer. Even just being aware of them and going about your day turns you into a more receptive sponge that the universe needs you to be.

Then, make the leap. Just a tiny leap. Start small, stay humble, and be open to the events that unfold. Not only ask “what if?” but act on it too. Remember, the perfect time to start is now, and the best place to find inspiration is within your immediate world of people, connections and problems. Don’t fall for the trap of procrastinating building the imaginary superfluous business one you hope you might build one day. The building happens right now in lots of tiny micro-steps.

So don’t just to dream about the future, make it. Don’t let yourself have that deathbed regret. Your version of Pip Decks is out there, waiting for you to bring it to life.

Steve Jobs once said:

When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and you're life is just to live your life inside the world.

Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money.

That's a very limited life.

Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.

Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again.

So, what are you waiting for? Start building!

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For further reading on this, you ought to consume everything Seth Godin has written (because building a product is actually largely a marketing exercise). He has and is my life long guide and I wouldn’t be here without the wisdom he had imparted on me in his books. As a starting point, read Purple Cow and This is Marketing.