Startmap

What was it?

Somewhere around 2012 I started doing pro-bono consulting outside of my job at PwC.

I was in search of a constant challenge and thoroughly enjoyed helping small businesses reorganise their capital use, become online literate and evaluate the market at large.

After doing this for 2 fashion brands, a charity, and a couponing app I decided I would start a blog/site that laid out all the models I applied to these situations.

"Simple, straightforward and clear business advice for young and new businesses, so you can focus on your products!"

​What were the results?

Well for one - I knew nothing about marketing. I had managed to get sites to rank #1 on google but had no idea how.

So I found no users.

I also spent wayyyy to many hours building and tweaking the site.

Ultimately I mothballed the site, unfinished and before anyone ever heard of it.

​Post mortem

• Marketing is a real skill that can't be faked
• I didn't talk to users
• I got caught up in the site design and not the content
• I tried to blog about topics I knew nothing about
• Fundamentally I wanted to be doing something rather than solving a problem and being pulled into it