#34 You shipped it, so what?

Congratulations! You shipped it. The weeks, maybe months of your hard work are over. You released your project for everyone to see. You’re done, aren’t you?

You shipped it. So what? Like the proverbial tree that fell in the forest. If no one was there to notice, did it even fall?

A while back I read a story. A writer went to a publisher to sign a book deal. Before the publisher signed the deal they asked: what is your plan to get your book to people once it’s done?

Shipping is the easy part. Shipping is only the beginning. Just putting your code on GitHub, publishing your app to a marketplace, or launching a web app doesn’t make any difference. Because the reality is, people won’t notice.

If your goal is to ship, then you’re right: you’re done. But more than often shipping is means to an end. And to reach that end, you need to keep going.

What comes after shipping is harder. But the reward is so much bigger too. Your project changing people’s lives.

You shipped. Congratulations. Now, what are you going to do to reach people?

Photo by Daniel McCullough on Unsplash