Translate.co.in Development Update

As many of you know – I have been working hard this month developing Translate.co.in – a domain I recently won in an auction at Bido.com. I had originally set a goal of July 1st for completion of this project but it looks like it is going to take a bit longer. With development this can easily happen and in the end I need to give myself more time to allow the site to really be all that it can be. So I thought this would be a great time to follow-up on yesterday’s post and discuss how to set goals and then what to do if something takes longer than you expect.

First – when a project takes longer than you expect – don’t think of this as a negative. At the end of the day I approach all my projects with the same motto – “Got a job big or small, do it right or not at all.” One thing I tell new investors is that if you have a development project and it isn’t complete at the time you expected – don’t just put-up what you have and say, “well that was the best I could do given the time I set aside for the project.” All businesses have delays and at the end of the day – these delays oftentimes allow for a better product in the end.

Something like this also helps you learn to think on your feet a little quicker and decide how to prioritize things differently to accomodate change. The first step to ensuring your project gets done is to make a list of what you have finished, and what you still need to get done:

Finished:
– Logo Design
– Site Design
– Articles Section
– Contact Us Section
– Online Resources Section
– Coding of Translation System

Outstanding Items:
– Translation services section
– Learn a language section

Once you have your list you know what you have achieved and what is left to get done. Now out of the outstanding items is there any item that will take longer because you are waiting on another resource? In my case the “Translation Services” section is taking longer than expected as I am working to establish business relationships with existing translation services in India. The same is true for the “Learn a Language” section because I am also working on developing relationships with these companies as well.

The next step is setting the new completion date. In this case I think I will need an extra 2-3 weeks to really get the site to where I want it. Remember, it is okay to miss your goals as long as you are doing so to create a better product in the end. The point here is that you should still have a new goal and a plan on exactly how you are going to achieve it. Over the next 2-3 weeks I will continue to reach-out to organization in India to see what partner services I can get to work with my site.

I would much rather provide my site visitors with valuable resources rather than simply performing a quick Google search and posting whatever I can find on my site. I hope that when I finish this site it is something that people in India will find both useful and informative.

The next step in project management is determining how this will impact other projects. In the case of my monthly website development I have decided to focus on remodeling one of my existing sites – DomainingLibrary.com. This is a project that will only take one weekend day and thus will give me plenty of time in July to continue building relationships with translation and language-service companies in India.

At the end of July I plan to have Translate.co.in up and running and a nice new version of Domaining Library ready as well. No matter what project you are working on it is essential that you have a plan and are willing to adapt that plan to ensure that at the end of the day you put-out the best product possible. Apple, Sony, and Microsoft are three BIG companies that have dramatically delayed MAJOR product releases – but they did it so that the product would be better when they finally released it.

Never release anything when it is only 90% of the way there – stick to my motto – it has always worked for me: “Got a job big or small, do it right or not at all!”

Thanks for reading and if you’re looking for more inspiration – don’t forget to read my book!

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton