If you’ve heard of platforms like Kickstarter or Indiegogo, you know the concept: people invest in a product before it’s live.
Every successful product I’ve launched has followed this same principle—I sell them before I build them.
To many, this seems counterintuitive, even impossible to grasp.
But if you’re thinking of starting an agency or pivoting your current offering, here’s what most people do wrong.
They spend endless hours building systems, processes, and workflows, essentially constructing the machine before they’ve made a single sale.
This is a colossal waste of time.
Instead, find your audience and act as if the product is already built.
Skip ahead and behave like everything is ready to go.
I suspect the reason so many people focus on building before selling is that it’s a way to avoid the hardest part—actually selling it.
How often have we poured time and energy into creating a program, product, or app, only to struggle when it’s time to bring it to market?
When sales don’t happen, we blame the product, but that’s rarely the issue.
People will buy things before they’re built.
Think about it: when you build a house, you pay for the land and expenses upfront before the house is constructed.
When you buy concert tickets, you’re often paying months or even years in advance, long before the show is finalised.
In some cases, the album that’s being promoted hasn’t even been released yet.
The key is to act like your product is already built and make the sales first.
Get people to commit their money, and then go, “Wow, now I need to deliver something.”
People aren’t expecting a fully finalised product right out of the gate.
Think of it like a magazine that comes with a piece of a model airplane each issue.
You don’t have to give them the whole plane at once—sell it piece by piece, build it as you go, and refine it along the way.
This approach is not only effective but incredibly profitable.
So, are you ready to sell before you build?
