This Week on "Workaholics"...

​

We're talking July 2024. After months of thinking "If I don't want Efluenz, what do I want?"
The idea was there. A product and platform to help people with their smartphone and screen addiction. So I contact a product design agency, explained them the idea and they went to work. I also told them I wanted to launch before the end of 2024, to get ahead of Christmas gifts and New years resolutions.

​

They looked at me and called me crazy in a very nice way. Launching a product company is not the same as launching a service agency. That became very clear, very quick.

​

When I got the idea for Efluenz, it did not even take me 1 week before posting a picture on Linkedin of myself with a sign saying "CEO of Influenz" (yes we changed names) and getting out there, pitching my ideas to potential clients.

​

Patience has never been my thing. We're March 2025 and this week it will be the first time I'll have a sample of my product physically in hands.

Thomas d'Havé

In my 12 years of entrepreneurship, I've learned 3 things that have been key to my career:

​

Anticipate:

When I'm working on project X, I'm already thinking about the next one. When I was still at Efluenz, I talked to several experts (brain, focus, sleep, stress, burnout, relationship, family ...), I designed the product and looked at the competitive market. I listened to podcasts and read books on the topic.

It has improved

• Mindset. Always looking for the next step, creativity, trying to understand, growing
• Time management. Bottlenecks, minimazing delay and gives me freedom to move between projects
• Seeing the bigger picture

​

Understand the person in front of me:

Everyone is different. That is nothing new. Still a lot of companies approach their targets with the same slide deck, the same story, the same cases.

• Less talking, more listening to your potential client
• Everyone has their key interest. Some people do deals relationship based, others on numbers, price setting...

​

Give people ownership in their expertise:

The product and platform design comes with

• different experts that provide content
• website and e-shop builder
• creative
• product design agency
• 2 suppliers
• custom company
• videographer
• location
• photographer

I don't interfere with their work, they take full ownership. I guide, share ideas and make sure everything comes together. How or what, that's their job.

​