Would this re-do make it better?

When it comes to your startup, it’s understandable to want everything to be perfect. Whether it's getting your marketing materials right or ironing out your internal processes, waiting for things to come together the way you always envisioned can be frustrating. But when your company is in its infancy, it's easy to bite off more than you can chew. And what suffers when you do that? The product of service that you started your company for in the first place. These are a handful of the initiatives we see founders pursue that can derail your startup’s resources and focus the most.

The website re-design

When this comes up

Did you have a professional agency build your website? If not, there’s a good chance it came together haphazardly. Unfortunately, that lack of planning will come back to bite you. And eventually, either you or someone on your team will start to question the site's functionality or whether the design meets your target customers' expectations.

Why this sucks

Website redesigns require you to devote enormous amounts of time to meet, wireframe, build, stage, and plan. And while that process is ongoing, you still have to maintain and push out new content on your existing site. So, get ready for double the workload and versioning headaches. For smaller startups, this is like repairing a bridge while building a new bridge next to it.

Is this really necessary?

Does your website have foundational issues that reflect a CMS in a broken state, like an inability to integrate with your CRM or other critical tools? If not, consider taking an iterative approach to the redesign process. Take advantage of the fact that you’re not in a rush to fix anything.

Try re-templating instead

The odds are that 10% of your site's pages bring in about 90% of your leads. So rather than redesign your whole site, focus on updating the pages and templates that do the heavy lifting. You know the ones: Home, product, signup, demo, etc. Roll out the new ones gradually, and don't get distraught over some inconsistency between a few pages. That's a better problem than losing days' worth due to starting a website redesign from scratch.

The company re-brand

When this comes up

Companies evolve as they grow and often drift away from their original brand position. Similar to questionable fashion choices from your youth, the visual identity and messaging decisions you made before may start to feel dated and regrettable later.

Why this sucks

A brand isn't just a collection of design choices. Your brand is how your customers and employees feel about your company. Changes to the brand will feel personal for anyone who has interacted with it. And even more personal for anyone excluded from the rebranding process. So you have two choices: Assemble a large group of stakeholders to weigh in on the new brand, or alienate many by not involving them. Whichever route you take will leave many of your employees and customers unhappy.

Is this really necessary?

Ask yourself if the business has fundamentally drifted from the original target market or customer. Maybe you've had to pivot several times, dramatically changing or expanding who is buying your product. If that's the case, a full rebrand might be the right call.

Try re-freshing instead

Most of the time, companies rebrand to project a more professional image of themselves — an image that reflects their maturity and sophistication. But that doesn't move the needle when it comes to revenue. Sometimes, it may even cause you to lose money. So, rather than take on the enormity of a rebrand, look for opportunities to nudge what you currently have in the direction you want. Think of it as upgrading the current version instead of completely overhauling it. For example, you can update messaging to redefine the market segment more appropriately. Tweak color palettes to reflect a more enterprise audience. And give your logo a facelift so it doesn't look like an amateur designed it.

The re-invent the wheel

When this comes up

As a company gets rolling, there can be a temptation to "do things differently." You'll hear propositions like no more meetings or let's build our own CRM. Often, these suggestions for change are just for change's sake. And while innovating your product or service is undoubtedly necessary, reinventing business processes is not.

Why this sucks

Implementing obscure software or building net new processes can take your team down a rabbit hole. And while you are busy rethinking some piece of how your organization functions, you're no longer focused on your customers and generating revenue. Not to mention, investors have expectations of how a company should function. Reimagining every piece of the business could give your stakeholders the impression that your startup is distracted and possibly volatile.

Is this really necessary?

Unless changing processes presents a clear competitive advantage, you're better off sticking to tried and true methods for operating your business. Running a startup and building an innovative product is already hard enough. Limiting the things that can go wrong is in your best interest and will help you make you concentrate on the things that drive the business forward.

Try this instead

Commit yourself to your product and customers. If you're working on something that isn't building your product or delighting your customers, then it's not growing your business. Remember, you started a company to create something innovative in your industry, not reinvent how business gets done. When fixing processes and procedures, choose the simplest and most reliable solution. We all have a finite amount of time in a day, so spend it on what matters most.

The great code re-write

When this comes up

This is when someone believes a software system is not meeting current or anticipated needs. They decide the most appropriate course of action is to throw out the current system and start over. A rewrite may make sense to those who have never experienced one and are unaware of the pitfalls, failures, and actual costs associated with such projects.

Why this sucks

A rewrite hampers your company's product evolution unless you have a spare software development team on deck. Otherwise, you redirect existing resources from your current shipping product, keeping them from fixing bugs or adding features for anywhere from six to eighteen months. Because here's the thing, rewrites always take longer than initially estimated. So, if you're seriously considering tackling a rewrite, double your current best estimate and see if you can live with that timing and resource commitment. But prepare for the likelihood that you won't realize the project's difficulty and odds of success until well into the rewrite process.

Is this really necessary?

All software becomes legacy software the moment it ships. Maybe, this one observation, above all, is the foundation for reconsidering going down this path. The business rules, integrations, data flows, error conditions, and other sundry parts are always more involved than you realize after the fact. Chances are these are poorly documented, so it is only discovered during the rewrite how complex they really are. Here's something to keep in perspective: Don't get caught up in how things look behind the curtain. The warehouse can be messy as long as the showroom is tidy. After all, keeping your customers happy is how you get retention. So ask yourself, are quality issues you're experiencing due to technical deficiencies or inadequate processes? Are your scaling concerns impacting sales today? There's no denying that working with the latest technologies is fun and occasionally makes everyone’s lives easier. But don’t let the shiny new thing distract from what is working today and disrupt your current revenue stream. Generally, early-stage companies should resist the temptation to go down the rewrite path except for extraordinary circumstances. Even then, think twice and enlist the advice and assistance of those who have already done it.

Try this instead

Look to refactor, not rewrite. At times it may feel like a high-wire act, but a refactor doesn't require the whole show to stop. Focus on the specific issues that drive customer churn. For example, “customers say our application is too complex” screams for a rewrite. But, “we can simplify the report generation workflow from five clicks to two” is a narrowly scoped problem with a corresponding solution. Seek out incremental, quantifiable improvements. The motto, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t fix it,” is very applicable here. You can measure code coverage, response times, application crashes, and more. Instrument these, make improvements along the way, set aside time to pay down high-interest technical debt, and set quality assurance as an upfront activity.

What's this all mean?

If there’s a lesson you should walk away with, it’s to keep your eyes on the prize. Getting your product or service into the market should come before everything else. All other business needs are secondary. And don’t be afraid of using a bandaid. There’s nothing wrong with leveraging temporary solutions until you have the time and resources to address issues fully. Your business will be better for it in the long run.