I was really inspired after reading It Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy At Work, by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. As I go into a new season of work as an indie maker/entrepreneur, I want to apply the tips and principles I noted down from the book…that it doesn’t have to be crazy at work; that I can choose calm, not crazy. That involves saying “no”, A LOT. “No” to things that people usually say “YES!” to. 

So here’s me saying “no” to how I would want to run a calm business on the internet, hereon:

1. I’ll stay a company of one. A solo business. No investors, no business partners. Less co-workers, less drama. But occasional (good) freelancers are fine.
2. Health and fitness as NUMBER 1 priority. What would your schedule look like if health was top priority? No, seriously. Reschedule a meeting, a call, a task or anything if I don’t have enough sleep and exercise. 
3. Work normal hours. Work 4, or even 3, days a week. Be lazy.
4. Tell customers upfront (politely) that support is available only during work days and work hours in my timezone. No weekends, no late nights. 
5. Self-help by default, as much as possible. Help customers help themselves.
6. Build relationships. Know customers by name. 
7. Don’t use “we”, use “me”. Act small, not corporate. Be intentionally tiny, but human. 
8. No empty promises just because “the customer is always right”. Just to polite and honest about the difficulties.
9. No roadmap. Get customers to buy what the product is today, not what it is in the future.
10. Set a upper revenue/profit limit. Close shop for the day/month/year when that’s achieved. Go travel, surf, spend time with family.
11. Be lifestyle business proud. I am in this for the lifestyle.
12. No growth (buying more assets, ads, hiring) unless it’s cheaper to do so.
13. No growth hacking for growth’s sake. Intentional and selective growth, where it makes sense.
14. Automate, automate, automate. Use bots, cron jobs, scripts, or even VAs to remove manual hassles as much as possible, as early as possible, but not too early. 
15. Leverage tech as default for scalability, beyond the bottleneck of me. Labour, if it can’t be automated, and last, capital.
16. No open startup data, without context. Envy and jealousy are easier on the internet than inspiration, if context is not set properly. Be transparent selectively, where it makes sense, where it authentically helps.
17. Email by default, call for discussions. No coffees, no meetings unless it’s an emergency. Just simply say “My calendar doesn’t allow. Hope you are well.” Don’t apologise, don’t say sorry, just say no nicely but firmly. 
18. Profit from Day 1. In the black over in the red, always. When in the red, it’s always crazy. Calm is in the black.
19. Have fun. The moment you’re too serious about your goal, you’re inching it out of reach. Set a random, funny goal alongside your big one. 

……(to be added as I go)