Week #3: What could go wrong?

Last week I wrote my SWOT analysis about becoming a Shopify Expert. This week, I wrote my pre-mortem analysis, which is about laying out the imaginary scenarios in which you failed, to foresee potential pitfalls.

My pre-mortem: 3 reasons why my Shopify development career failed

🐌 Reason 1: Shipping too slow

I sit on my products and fine-tune them week after week. I constantly have that "almost there" feeling.

I want to say it's because I am a perfectionist and I want to do great work, but in reality, I am afraid. I am afraid of angry customers. I am afraid of people yelling at me and suing me.

Writing it out it sounds ridiculous, but I have to realize, this fear comes from the lack of experience as a freelancer, and I assume most people go through this.

If I manage to overcome this fear, I believe procrastination will be taken over by the desire of progressing.

🔎 How to identify procrastination

I know I fell into procrastination when I replace real project work with substitute activities, such as:

• researching tools for pains that are not critical
• watching/reading tutorials unrelated to my project
• working on my brand instead of my currently active project

🛡️ How to avoid procrastination

• Have an accountability partner
• Maintain a focus journal
• Report my progress on social media and on my blog
• Weekdays are for project work, Saturday is for writing and admin tasks

🔥 Reason 2: Burning out

I am afraid of shipping too slow, therefore I push it. But, I push it too hard.

I think about work at the dinner table, on family strolls and on my runs too. Whenever I have a seemingly good idea, I instantly grab my phone wherever it is, unlock it, and jot down my fantastic idea. I even try to squeeze productivity into a 2-minute gas station queue.

My mind has no time to recover. No time to relax, because I am always on. My life has no rhythm, no game, therefore I slowly feel more-and-more exhausted. I become a monomaniac trapped inside a mad game I've created for myself.

🔎 How to identify burnout

• The joys of life fade away: no gratitude for sunset or beautiful clouds
• No dancing, no singing, no smiling
• Not sitting outside bare-feet reading a book
• Exhaustion, frustration, feeling in rush all the time

🛡️ How to avoid burnout

• Slow down and enjoy
• Let your life develop a balanced rhythm with family, friends, sport and fun
  • Save Sundays entirely for family.
  • No work in the evening.
  • Run. Have fixed (long run, power run) and flexible (easy run) dates too.
  • Let your friends entertain you with their interests. Be open to new things.

😴 Reason 3: Despite sustainable shipping, no results

I am doing everything written in the book. I am consistent and persistent. I am creative because I give my mind to recharge. I have a good-looking portfolio, I have products and I offer services that are in demand.

And the result? Crickets.

Despite the hard work, no one seems to be interested in me and my products. All the themes I've uploaded to Envato have zero sales, all the gigs listed on Fiverr have zero clients.

Something seems to be off. Has the competition win? Am I playing an impossible game? These are hard questions that need to be answered.

🛡️ How to avoid crickets

• Implement analytical thinking via writing. Long form writing requires critical thinking. Sticking to a long-form writing habit forces you to review your progress and anticipate your results. Thinking strategically helps to make good decisions and implement tactics instead of mindlessly throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.
• Network: building a professional network can provide you with insights and second-hand experience that you wouldn't have otherwise.
  • Reach out to people on social media
  • Go to events
  • Invite people on your journey by writing short-form online

Weekly progress review for week #3

In this week learning Shopify theme development was still in focus. I've learned about:

• Sections, blocks, defaults and presets
• Learned about how the development and remote preview environment syncs
• Learned a bit about filters, but they are still not entirely clear to me. I've posted about it on Shopify Community, but received no answers yet.
• Progressed with my theme
  • Footer with default menu and brand logo
  • New headline section
  • New location section
  • Uploaded coffee products

Plans for next week

• Finish the About page
• Finish the Contact page
• Finish the Accessories page
• Finish the Coffee page

Monthly budget review

I've decided to write about my business financials on a monthly basis. I have a Wise account dedicated to all business related costs and payments to make tracking easier. I've set up a Notion database to track all these transactions.

Naturally, I don't have much at this point. My current expenses are:

• AI: Co-pilot, but will change to Cursor. This is my biggest expense currently.
• Email with custom domain: Apple iCloud
• Hosting my blog: PikaPods (not recurring, top-up based)
• Plus some domain names that are not included here (like gaborify.com)

Monthly progress review

I have started working on Shopify business on 14th April, 3 weeks ago. I'd like to reflect on how far I've come.

• 🛍️ I've decided to embed myself in the Shopify ecosystem because it seems to be a good B2B community with high demand of technical expertise. I can build themes, apps and provide freelancing services, which paired with a functional distribution, can sustain a great solo business.
• 🗺️ I have a well detailed plan
  • My end goal is to build a profitable SaaS.
  • To gain domain expertise, experience and build a network I'll do freelancing
  • To substitute my freelance income I'll sell themes and apps too.
  • I'll start by building a portfolio with themes, merchant guides and Shopify verification
• ☕ I have created a Shopify Partner account and set up my first development store. I've started working on my first theme called Coffee World.
• 👨‍🎓 I've finished various courses on Shopify Academy. I am planning to get a verification until June.
• 🎨 I've decided to sell my themes on the Envato marketplace instead of Shopify Theme Store, because the requirements are easier to jump. My goal here is to build a portfolio and gain momentum.
• 💪 I've set up a working schedule which consists of two main habits
  • Work on project work on weekdays. Write and do admin tasks on Saturdays.
  • Both weekdays and Saturday publish short-form writing.
  • I've managed to keep up with this schedule without feeling any drag or pain.
• 🐌 Sometimes my progress on my theme feels slow. I can see how much I've learned, but I'd like to get results faster. What do I need here? Patience or better prioritisation?

Bonus findings

• To sharpen my focus, I started to meditate. I do guided meditation every morning 8-10 minutes. I use a free, non-profit app called Smiling Mind.
• I've started doing guided runs with Nike Running Club. So much fun!
• I've discovered a podcast tailored to Shopify Devs: Weekly Liquid

And finally, an interesting quote that I got from my running app:

"Your biggest weakness is where you can grow the most."