Lets talk about R&D
Busy with the core business, no time to see the world around you, no playtime or continuing education…Thankfully the bank account is happy, at least for now.
What will you do if the business that’s been flooding in for years comes to an abrupt stop? Hopefully you can sift through a slew of old emails from potential clients asking for the core. What a glorious dream that would be.
Businesses and employees should be prepared to offer a new level of products and services, alongside the tried and true.
I’ve been blessed for the past two years to have a stable day job. This stability affords me the time to experiment with side projects. Have these projects made me or my employer one cent? Hell no, and neither does reading trend reports, checking out the competition or learning about new software.
People tell me this is a complete waste of time, but I see it a bit differently.
Benefits of R&D
- Experiment on your own dime and not the clients
- Fail quicker and learn from those experiences
- Stay ahead of the curve by mastering a trend before it becomes mainstream
<R&D>This is a call to anyone stuck in that complacency rut. Don’t test the waters when things are bad. Explore when things are good. Once that bell rings at 5, run home and experiment. What’s that you say? “I’ve got a family to tend to, a life.” Well, put the kids to bed at 9 and get to work. You can do a lot of damage during those quiet hours in the night.</R&D>
R&D from 2009: Without Advertising, Rantter (in development), Fugly Site, Blueprint Sites and last but not least, Mindrally.
Continuing Ed from 2009: Don’t Make Me Think, Prioritizing Web Usability, Copyblogger, Lynda, and countless blogs.
Inspiration from 2009: TED, Gary Vaynerchuk and anyone working their ass off to stay ahead of the curve.