Adii Pienaar

As an enthusiast photographer, I've recently been fascinated with film photography. In the past 2 months, I've started using my Polaroid SX-70 & Canon FTb on more occasions (instead of relying on my DSLR or iPhone to capture moments).

The thing about both of these camera's are that they were produced in 1972 & 1971 respectively. The technology is old & not as streamlined or easy-to-use when compared to our digital alternatives today.

Playing around with these manual, film camera's though got me thinking about how that experience compares to digital photography, where we can take a photo and immediately see the results. Instant gratification.

This got me thinking about the way we run our businesses online these days. We're focused on iterating in the most agile & efficient way. We implement tweaks that aim for small, daily victories. We monitor our key metrics in real-time (and across multiple platforms) to make sure that we can react on-demand.

And when we implement a new decision, we want to see the result immediately. Instant gratification.

I think - as entrepreneurs and startup people - it's in our nature to not be satisfied by only seeing the cogs moving. We want to see the vehicle moving as well, because that's how we know that we've set the cogs up correctly.

But there's a contradiction & a flaw in that mindset for me: most things that I can implement in my business today, will only have an obvious / noticeable effect much later. I think that the requirements for building a company that can scale & be sustainable in the long-term, means you're sometimes making decisions in the blind, with no immediate validation of whether that decision is the correct one.

Maybe it's a case of building a business based on your gut-feel & intuition.

For me that experience relates exactly to taking a photo on a film camera. I need to trust that my theoretical knowledge (in terms of manually controlling the exposure, aperture & focus of the camera) & intuition ("Will this subject and the composition thereof make a good photo?") will result in a great photo. There's no way for me to take a photo, see the result immediately, iterate on my assumptions / actions & take a new photo. Rinse & repeat.

Building a great business strategy is about vaguely knowing in which general direction you need to move to build a long-term sustainable business. That general direction will move a few ticks left and then a few ticks right on a daily / weekly / monthly basis, but unless your pivoting completely, the general direction stays the same.

No amount of instant gratification & short-term validation will unfortunately make you feel less insecure about whether your business will come out well on the other side.

So when building your business, trust in your knowledge (of the problem you're solving / your business / customers / industry), your passion for your solution and your intuition of pursuing your long-term vision successfully.

Snap.

A year ago my son was born. Today I get to have the privilege of celebrating the last year and this really significant milestone with him & my wife.

To say that it's been an epic journey would be an understatement. I'm sure most new parents would attest to the experience feeling similar to jumping into the deep-end of the pool and learning to swim on-the-go.

For me though, this year has been about rediscovering myself in all facets of my life: as a new dad, as a husband, as a family member, others' friend, an entrepreneur & business owner. Just discovering who the heck this Adii guy really is.

You would've seen me write about balance quite a bit recently and that's been a direct result of this journey of rediscovery that I've been on. A couple of months ago, I had to admit to myself that deep-down I was very unhappy (even though everything on the surface of my life seemed to be perfect) and that I had just become incredibly efficient in hiding the unhappiness and finding workarounds for it.

My son - "Little Bear Man" - effected that change. The influence he has had on me in the last year has been profound. No conversation that I've had with a friend, advisor or mentor in the past comes close to effect that my son has had on the way I see myself & perceive the world around me.

I've learnt the value of time. I've learnt to cherish those fleeting life moments by just being in them. I've learnt to be more patient and love unconditionally. I've learnt that sometimes a smile - regardless of the circumstances - is just the easiest way from point A to B. I've learnt that my life is bigger than just myself. [1]

Today, I'm a better man because of Little Bear Man's influence on my life.

Happy birthday my boy!

[1] Special thanks needs to go to my wife, for not only being patient with me and allowing me the space to figure this out, but also for being such a great mom, which enabled me to grow into the dad that I want to be.

Yesterday, during a little video interview, I was asked what WooThemes meant to me. Initially I was a little stumped, but then said "WooThemes is about opportunities."

My personal perspective & experience was my go-to when I said that, as WooThemes has created so many opportunities for me:

• I have the opportunity of working on something I'm passionate about & building a business around it.
• I have the opportunity of earning a good living and supporting my family.
• I've had the opportunity to travel, speak at conferences and meet loads of awesome people (some who've become really good friends, mentors & advisors).

And that list can go on.

As I was thinking about all of this though, I realized that opportunities were at the very core of what we were doing at WooThemes too: we were giving our customers the opportunity to build better websites, quicker and more cost-efficiently. Our customers have the opportunity to build their own businesses around that and in that way, they experience the same personal opportunities that I've had with Woo through their own businesses.

I've always been a firm believer that a company that enables others to build businesses end up being recession-proof, as your products / services becomes an integral part of how others are earning a living. And that is what we've been striving to do: WooThemes Helps Build Businesses.

Today I can take that one step further and say: WooThemes Creates Opportunities.

I used to be a firm believer of this mantra:

"When you love your job, you'll never work again."

Today, I'm not convinced that I believe it as much any more.

See, in terms of that mantra I guess I'd be considered to be living the dream. I co-founded my own business, get to work with an awesome team on awesome products, we make good money, I get to travel often and I have loads of flexibility. It's a privileged life.

And all of this has been fuelled by my passion for business, my passion to create, my passion for a challenge, my passion to start something.

When I created the very first WooThemes product 5 years ago, I did so because I was passionate about getting my hands dirty & creating. It was only ever intended to be a nice side-project that generated a bit of passive income. Instead it took off like a house on fire and evolved into the global business it is today.

Throughout the last 5 years, I've seen myself working more and sacrificing so many other aspects of my life (something which I've tried to change recently). I had to feed the beast that I had created.

I realized that the thing about success is that it demands more success. So whilst I've been passionate about building WooThemes every step of the day, it's become much more of a job than a passion or hobby over the years. That in itself isn't a bad thing, but the beast has demanded his pound of flesh from me.

I've found that mixing my ambition & drive with my obvious passion for certain things, I will always work more. And I haven't been able to control that well. Beyond the sacrifices that I've made and those that I've forced down on the people closest to me, it's also been a struggling maintaining that passion at all times.

I've come to realize that passion is a beast that needs to be fed. Sometimes it's gonna feel like you're making a deal with the devil and other times it's gonna feel like nurturing the most amazing Bonsai.

Regardless, you'll like be working quite a bit more as a result.

Today marks a new beginning and a very special time in my wife & my (but especially my wife's) life: Jeanne officially started trading in her new business (a bricks & mortar retail + services store) today.

In the last 2 years, I've witnessed Jeanne marrying me & becoming the best wife any husband could ask for. She quit her corporate job at a law firm and established her own boutique legal agency to much success. Then she put that on the backburner to take care of our new-born son, adapting to her new role as "best mom in the world" seamlessly.

So with Adii Jr growing up nicely, Jeanne started looking at business opportunities a couple of months ago (deciding on a new avenue and not returning to her legal roots). It took quite some time for the right opportunity to pop up and I witnessed my wife frustrated with the search & waiting at times, but she continued to amaze me with her patience, perseverance, ambition & drive.

Today I'm proud to call my wife a true entrepreneur & business owner. I've watched her evolve her business skills & knowledge in the last 2 years and I'm constantly surprised by her perspective within any discussion about business.

It's just been such a fun, rewarding & intimate experience being on this journey with Jeanne in the past 2 years. And on top of that, I'm incredibly excited to see how this new chapter develops.