Are you stuck getting your idea off the ground? It might be because you are thinking too big.
Amy Kauffman will tell you, it’s ok to dream big, but start small. Creating a minimal viable product (MVP) is the most effective way to start your business.
Paring down your product or service to an MVP enables you to quickly capitalize on the enthusiasm from your clients and let’s them tell you the features they want most next.
Amy is founder the of Givily, a software as a service (SaaS) firm that helps companies manage their donations. A few of her clients include Wholefoods, Annie’s Natural and Cliffbar.
More recently, she started another business, Player’s Future, to help professional athletes make a successful transition from the spotlight to civilian life.
Some important lessons from our conversation include:
- How Amy makes time for both of her business and her 2-year old by staying present in all circumstances.
- How she manages her work productivity using sprints.
- How she recognized her personal need to connect with people and decided to create businesses around that need.
Life Skills That Matter In This Episode
- Practicing self-awareness.
- Planning your actions.
- Aligning habits to feed a common purpose.
How Amy Works and Thinks
- Wake up time: 5:30am – 6:00am
- Ideal work environment: Isolated with phone turned off; no sound, no people, no distractions. Any room with sunshine and light.
- Superpower: Intuition, believing in and empowering people.
- Definition of success: Striving towards who you’re created to be with as much speed and tenacity as possible.
- Book recommendation: Linchpin and We Are All Weird by Seth Godin.
- Regains focus by: Sometimes working out, reading, cleaning, mowing the yard, listening to a song, or talking to a friend.
- 90-day goal: Close a couple of ongoing deals for Givily, keep building the pipleline, and bring on assistant full time. Enroll 10 athletes into Player’s Future.
Inspirational Quotes
“They were willing to just gut it out and it didn’t matter how long because they saw the vision, they saw the end.”
“The end goal and vision is so important because it helps you make decisions along the way.”
Coaching Advice
Amy had this advice for when things feel like they’re moving too slow and maintaining motivation is a challenge:
1) Don’t think about the obstacles: Turn on your thinking about the possibilities and focus on the good aspects.
2) Think about what’s at stake.
3) Take time to get to know yourself: If the idea doesn’t align with you properly, you may need to adjust.
Resources + Bonus Materials
Check out my previous two interviews with Amy! Great progression of how Amy’s self-employment journey as unfolded!
How to Get Motivated on Your Big Idea
How to Start a Customer-Funded Business
Related Episodes
Overcoming Resistance and Fear With Seth Godin
Getting Fired to Becoming Your Own Boss With Nathan Kaufman