The Promise of Not Delivering

I’m an early adopter; I’m the guy that a lot of companies rely on to see if their product really works, in the real world. I’m the guy that those companies rely on to create buzz about their product and get other people to buy it. I’m also a web developer who freelanced for a lot of years, and I have a ton of side projects I’d like to work on; people rely on me to make stuff for them. I mention this because I’m on both sides of my next statement: making a promise and not delivering on it could be the worst thing you can do for your business.

In the featured image, you will see Coin, a card to replace credit cards. Coin was announced over a year ago and was promised for July 2014. I got on it very earl- like I read about it and I backed it. I was very excited about the project for 2 reasons:

• It’s convenient to carry one combined card that’s a lot easier to cancel/disable if you lose it.
• In my eyes, it’s a stepping stone to NFC-based payments.

July came and went with little word. In August, backers were told that there would be a limited amount of beta devices released, but we’d have to pay an additional $30 for the final product. They later apologized and reversed that policy. Still, no word on when the device was coming. Then in October I got the app, confirmed my order, and was told it would ship end of November. O happy day!

Well it’s now the end of December and there’s still no word on when I’m getting my Coin. That’s a lot of broken promises from one company that has taken my money and given me no reason to trust them.

What’s the Point of All This?

I didn’t write this post to trash Coin. I wrote it to make a point: when you make a promise and don’t deliver, you cause a lot of problems for yourself. Anyone who has a successful Kickstarter project knows that. If you give people an end date, they expect something by that end date. I’m not saying problems don’t arise, and I’m very understanding of these things when they are communicated. But there are ways to mitigate the problem.

For one, it seems this time last year, Coin was just a concept and not a working thing. I’m not sure, but it sure seems that way. So rule #1: Don’t take money unless you know you can deliver. You will need to front some money to create a concept if you want to go the crowdfunding route.

Rule #2: Give yourself a buffered deadline. I know we all want to be optimistic, but waiting longer and actually hitting your date is much, much better than totally missing it. Even if it’s just 1.5x how long you actually think it will take, you will thank yourself later.

Finally, rule #3 is Communicate. Radio silence is the worst thing you can do, especially after taking someone’s money. The most upsetting thing about the Coin ordeal is that every time the ship by date got pushed back, the only reason I knew is I didn’t get it yet. I’m still waiting for word on why I haven’t gotten the Coin, yet another month later (and 1 year after I shelled out the money).

In 2015, I hope to deliver more than I ever have- with work and some side projects. I wrote these things here to make myself accountable and to remind myself when I’m in the thick of it to step back and remember what it’s like to be on the receiving end of these types of projects. I need to remember The Promise of Not Delivering.