Knowing What I Don't Know

March 2, 2010

Today's goal for March's One Dream a Month seemed like a simple one - find out what I know and what I don't know.

I completed my initial Creative Concept Plan and moved onto trying to figure out which of my skills and experience I can bring to my new venture and where the gaps exist. I even created an organizational chart to map out my knowledge base and broke it into two categories:

WHAT I ALREADY KNOW

WHAT I DON'T ALREADY KNOW

Now, I'm sure there's some fancy marketing terminology that I could have thrown in there, but I decided to cut to the chase and get down to it. How does it break down?

WHAT I ALREADY KNOW:

• Business concept and mission
• Product creative details and development
• Storyline and characters
• Desired sponsors/partners
• Desired Board of Advisors
• Segmented audience demographics
• Brand development
• Marketing
• Social Media
• Grassroots Word-of-mouth
• Public and community relations

WHAT I DON'T ALREADY KNOW

• Back end technology
• Programming
• User Interface
• Pretty much anything related to the behind the curtains technology
• Manufacturing
• Licensing
• Intellectual property protection
• International business standards
• Language translation
• Educational landmark trends
• Retail placement
• Partnership and sponsorship development
• Sales force
• Business structure and systems
• Revenue stream model 
• Investors/funding

Whew! I'm pleased to see that I have a really good grasp on certain aspects of starting a business, coming from years of helping others launch their dreams with strategic marketing and publicity consulting. I suppose the good news is that I've defined these two fields and now can go about the task of identifying the kind-hearted folks who can provide me with their knowledge base to help me fill in the gaps. 

What I find interesting and would probably fit really well into some psychological employee profile is that my "What I Already Know" list is all about creativity and connection, a skill set which I think bodes well for someone leading a company, even a company of one. 

My "What I Don't Already Know" list runs the gamut from areas that I've never had exposure to, such as manufacturing and creating a sales force, to those that are related to areas I've avoided, mostly a financially-minded business plan. 

Both lists overwhelm me, so I need to go back and put them in some sort of order that allows for some prioritizing. It all can't get done at once, so it's time to create a plan for the plan and to identify which of the things I don't know I need to know first. Great question. 

In my writing, I often jump in and begin writing after a period of mulling things around in my head. I carry a mental outline that I then am able to put onto the page in a pretty clean fashion. Or a character slips into my life and I walk around with him or her until we're both ready to commit to the page.

Seems like a good thing to do wit this process, to allow a spill to happen on the page and give the dream some room to stretch, especially after being under the surface for some time. By allowing the creative stretching phase, I can work on articulating the mission and the vision, which will lead the rest and will also let me know what knowledge I need to seek out initially. I know from writing that you can come up with the strongest outline in the world, but when it comes down to it, the words take over, as do the characters and the place and in a certain way you just have to let go and allow it to happen. 

And unlike in life, where there is no replay button, if the initial spill doesn't come out like I expect, which is usually the case in all things, then I get to engage in a small miracle. I get to revise the thing until it does resemble the initial burst and dream. 

So here's to the messiness of beginning new projects and the joy in discovering what we do and what we don't know. And to continue cleaning up the mess and committing to making new ones.