This month I’m celebrating 5 years of running Nozbe - (original launch post) the tool that helps thousands of companies, teams and busy professionals get things done. It started because “I scratched an itch” as I was looking for my kind of tool that would help me get stuff done and I couldn’t find one… so I built it. And they came :-)
Persistence or perseverance - in other words: “keep on keeping on”.
Many people are asking me the same question all the time - if I’m still doing that same to-do app? If I’m not bored with it, if it actually brings me any money… if I don’t have any other, more exciting things to do and projects to pursue?
I’m an entrepreneur - I have great ideas all of the time. But the feeling of building a tool that helps so many people around the world get things done is more exciting than anything else. Think about it - people actually depend on Nozbe - it’s really “mission critical” for them… and they pay for using it (enough to cover costs, pay the salaries of my fantastic team members and live a good life). It’s exciting to be a part of it. I’m planning to keep on keeping on as long as I can :-)
The team makes all the difference
I started as a one-man shop and only after I decided to go with Nozbe full-time (after about a year) I hired a customer support gal and a programmer guy. Not only did these guys stay with me all these years (they must really like me), they are the pillars of my company and help me grow it and make it better day after day. We’re a team of 9 now and we’re about to hire a few more programming ninjas to take our coding skills to the next level. We all work from home, we all love it and we all enjoy our work. I’m also surrounded by amazing mentors and friends a lot smarter than me who occasionally help me along the way.
You learn, you grow, you grow even more… and then some…
I’ve made the switch from a one-man shop and now I’m making a switch from a manager to a team builder… and I love it every step of the way. I am still the product guy and it’s the product I care most about… and I learn about the product through our users even more. We’re 5 years into it and Nozbe it not even closed to being finished - it never will be - it’s just getting started. I feel the more you’re into it the less you know… and the more you grow and learn about everything. This growing and learning process is seriously exciting!
Oh yes, I do some stuff on the side…
… like the Productive! Magazine, some quick Productive! Show video episodes, some book writing and stuff… but these things never derail me from my main thing which is my app. It’s all about Nozbe for me. Professionally that is. I don’t want to lose focus and I want to make Nozbe even better. That’s why I try to convince young entrepreneurs to focus on just one thing and keep it going. Too many projects and things on the side might score you some ego points when networking at a conference but it will not add to your success. Doing one thing and doing it fully is the key.
This year will be exciting for Nozbe… and hope next 5 will be even more… and 10… and who knows how many more?
I’m in this for the long haul and I’m very excited about what the future holds for my app and for the industry. I’m blessed to be loving what I do, how I do it, where I do it and with whom I’m doing it… can’t imagine anything else and I wish you my kind of success :-)
P.S. If you’re Polish, I wrote a little more about my 5 year career in this month’s issue of the Proseed magazine (in Polish).