A critique of Puls8 – part 2

Let’s dive right in discuss the major assumptions of Puls8.io:

Major assumptions

At the end of the problem identification phase we are supposed to end up with a set of major assumptions. As a reminder the personas of ‘New startups’ and ‘Individuals’ were discussed last time. Th is what we got:

‘New startups’ lack money – but they will be willing to pay for high quality service, we need to hit the sweet spot between quality and price.
‘Individuals’ are more likely to pay – from their perspective the money is put to good use if it properly validates if their idea is worth carrying out. They can also afford the funds more readily.
To deliver high quality we need to limit the number of projects we take on. This number is 2. If we are doing it relatively cheap we need high volume to justify our business model. Therefore we need to progress a project through the entire pre-development phase one month (an overview of our process is here).
Offering a free consult – we are new and therefore need to offer a ‘taster’ service. We will discuss how the problem identification has been carried out and how it can be improved.
Perceived lack of experience – our argument is we are both experienced and we have a good background in bigger companies. We want to make people want to trust us. Before launching we need to ensure our model of work and selling pitch is aligned so people understand our service effectively.

These are things that we will spend our time validating over the coming months. And it may take us a few months to get a customer, but we need to network and persevere. I personally will be focusing a lot on point 4 – the assumption that people can and will do a lot of the problem identification themselves is a big one. I suspect one scenario may emerge where people are willing to pay for this service. Which means we need to pivot. Pivot means taking the data you have and deciding to change directions instead of continuing on the current path. An important topic and one we’ll return to in the future.

Website

I’ve discussed websites already and lot of time has gone into puls8.io and making it an effective sales pitch. I have outlined what it is we do, who we are and how we work. I reckon we’ve done a good job at it and our initial testing has also gone well. The mass test awaits but I have aimed to include all the required information and keep it simple. I’ve used squarespace for the site – it’s so easy and makes such slick websites. I do wonder how some simple web developers survive when bigger companies have made web development a drag and drop exercise.

Lastly, I have included a blog section as well as social links. Unfortunately my writing skills do not quite allow me to maintain two blogs. One has been demanding enough! I will use it as a news feed and link to Facebook. Maybe an article a month on something related to the business and product design. But the question remains on why I am doing these things and if it is even required. This is a case of lacking a clear intention. This is definitely a see how it goes exercise and adjust later on down the line.

I’d like to close by saying I see the future as exciting. I hope the above has shown some of the principles I’ve discussed in action as well as it being applicable to whatever business venture you embark on. Apart from some sensitive/personal data you are pretty much fully up to speed with myself. I am in many ways attempting to build a business in the public domain. An interesting thought, especially when things don’t go too well!

Saying that, there is one thing I have not shared – the ‘vision’ of the company and outlining a mid/long term plan. Yes there are grand machinations beyond this. But we all have to start somewhere. Sharing this now would possibly confuse things and so I’ve held it back. We’ll come back to the topic when I periodically update how the business is stacking up versus the major assumptions.

I hope you enjoyed this two parter and let me know your thoughts!