project_log: 012

Yo.

I lost an $8K project (that would have taken less than 1 week to build).

Not because I wasn't qualified, but because I am currently drowning in commitments I probably should have said 'no' to.

When I started freelancing I was shit scared of the uncertainty of my income. Which is fair enough looking back. I needed projects to pay the bills and survive. This lead me to the trap of saying 'yes' to every project that came my way.

The problem is that a "Yes" in the moment feels great. You've got work locked in for the next few months. The pain of uncertain income suddenly disappears and you feel like the man.

But you quickly realise you've traded one problem for another. Instead of: "Where's the work coming from?" you now have: "How the fuck am I going to finish everything?". You start working longer hours. You're working weekends. You sacrifice hobbies, health, and relationships just to keep up.

Then other killer opportunities come a long and you have to say 'no' because you're drowning in your current commitments.

This a pain I'm currently experiencing in my own business and it sucks.

After missing out on the "$8K in one week project" I knew something needed to change. I've been working on a system that helps me evaluate opportunities based on my current priorities.

I call it the Priority Filter. Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Know Your Top Priority
Grab a piece of paper and write down 15 things you want to achieve this year. For me it was things like go surfing more, build a product that helps freelancers, get better at writing and content etc. Circle the 3 you want to achieve the most. You know have your top priorities and can forget about the other 12 goals entirely.

Step 2: Rate the Opportunity's Impact 
For this step, we'll use a rating system. You'll answer each question from 1 - 5, with 1 being hell no and 5 being hell yes.

Now take your potential project and rate it across these four dimensions:

1. Money: Will this project financially get me closer to achieving my top priority?

2. Learning: Will I gain knowledge or skills that move me toward my top priority?

3. Network: Will this open new doors that'll help get me closer to my top priority?

4. Energy: Will working on this energise me to pursue my top priority faster?

Add up your scores across all four areas. Anything below 12 points is an immediate pass. Between 12-16 points, it's worth considering. Above 16 points? That's a strong hell yes.

An example to drive this home:

My top priority right now is building a product to help studios and freelancers make more $$ and save more time. I recently took on an opportunity to build a pretty standard website.

Let's run the system:

1. Money: 3/5 (nothing crazy).

2. Learning: 1/5 (I know everything already).

3. Network: 1/5 (I have a strong relationship with them already)

4. Energy: 2/5 (It's doesn't drain energy. Just doesn't create it)

Total score: 7/20 = Strong NO (well below our 12-point minimum for consideration)

Opportunity cost needs to be top of mind when saying 'yes' to a project.

This is all well and good for new opportunities, but how do I solve the pain right now?

Simple answer: You can't (without bringing others in to help or dropping projects).

But you can turn dead end interactions into good will that'll help you build relationships. Here's a quick story on how I do it:

I'm currently booked 3 months in advance.


A friend of mine reaches out wanting to get a new feature built on his website. I start writing out my typical no availability message: "Sorry man no availability".


But Instead of ending the message there, I keep writing: "Sorry man no availability but I know someone who may be able to help. Want me to connect you?"


He replies: 'That would be great. Appreciate it.'


I quickly reach out to my other friend who I know will crush the project: 'Hey man you have availability for a quick build over the next 2 weeks?'


He replies: 'Yup I can squeeze it in'.

I then connect the two via a group message and leave them to it.
 
With a few quick messages, I turned a dead-end interaction into goodwill that strengthens my relationships with two people. The client doesn't waste time trying to find and vet a developer, and the developer gets a project handed to them.

Lets talk Ballpark progress

Ballpark is the product I'm building that helps freelancers and studios get more leads. Last week I shared a 'build in public' tweet running through the features I've built and the thinking behind them. It did surprisingly well and even had a few "This is great. I'd happily pay for this":

It was motivating to get some validation that people are interested. The true test will come when it's time to pull out their wallet. But for now, I'm stoked.

In terms of progress:

I spent majority of my allocated time refactoring this week. Which was pretty fucking boring, but needed to be done. I overlooked the complexity of embedding a widget into someone else site which bit me in the ass. But I'm happy with the solution and It'll avoid a lot of headache down the road.

Was able to spend a few hours this weekend on implementing the widget design:

Happy with how it's looking. Going to be sick once I get to the animations.

That's all for this week.

Reply to this email letting me know how you found this new format o lesson on top, progress down below.

I enjoyed writing it.

Keep crushing. Talk next week.

Will.