MBA1756 Why You Should Learn To Code

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I first want to say that I am a functional developer. I know how to code just enough. Just enough to do what? Omar well, just enough to get myself out of trouble. To build simple MVPs to understand what a senior developer is doing When I hire them, just enough to know how to apply the same skills that you have to have with coding, with solving problems. In my business, I didn't go to university and major in computer science. I picked it up on the side. I first learned some very simple coding language, HTML and CSS about 15 years ago. And I learned it pretty much in a week. I didn't go to some expensive course or university. I. I literally learned it from a four dummies book. I just read the book, did the examples it described in the book and before I knew it I was able to create some web pages. Recently, a couple years ago, I actually wanted to learn a new programming language. I wanted to learn a little bit about Ruby on Rails. And when I say new, I mean new to me. And I had no intention of building any product with it. But I knew that by learning how to code I can gain other skills. I took a two day course at a local institute. It cost me like $300. And in two days I was able to create an app. A very simple app, but I was able to create a web app in two days. I learned how to get started. I can build upon that. So learning how to code doesn't take a long time. You can learn the fundamentals very quickly. A weekend course, maybe even a week course, you can learn online with online courses or if you like, in person course. And you're able to do that with no Covid restrictions in where you live, then I recommend it. But there are a ton of resources out there. There's Code Academy, there's Treehouse, there are a ton of free and paid ways to learn how to code. So that's not the problem. You can learn quickly, you can learn easily. There are a lot of resources out there. The thing we have to overcome is why? Why would you want to do this? What's the motivation? First of all, no matter what your business is, you will have a digital presence, you will have a website, you'll have some sort of way to do business online. And many of us, we have somebody design our website, develop them, and then we have to pay somebody to maintain the website to make sure it's updated. Or if we want to make some changes or tweaks, we go ahead and do that. If you're new to all this, here's a little secret. Most people that build websites are building it on a platform like WordPress, which is not really coding, they're just basically modifying templates. And there's a lot more modification you can do if you know how to code. If you know a little bit of HTML and css, which is very easy to learn now, you can hire somebody who's going to charge you an hourly fee to do it for you. But most of the changes I need to make on my website, little tweaks, little changes I can do myself, it takes me literally two or three minutes and it would save me around $100 or so if I was being charged by the hour. As a minimum, if I hired an outside developer. Now, yeah, you save the hundred bucks every time you need a change and that's good and all, especially if you're getting started and the 100 bucks, it means a lot. But for me, the biggest advantage is that I'm not blocked. I don't have to wait for this engineer to be available to fix this thing so I can continue and, you know, release what I'm working on. Whether it's a new landing page and a product, or I'm trying to make a tweak to the site and I want to launch this new thing, I don't have to wait on anybody. I can just go ahead and do it and move on with my tasks. To me, that's the biggest advantage number two. There are a lot of low code ways for you to validate ideas. Whether you want to build a survey on your website, whether you want to mock up a MVP product or offering, or you want to test likelihood to buy with creating a customized landing page with some tweaks and run ads to it to see if it works. Yep, there's landing page builders out there. But of course, if you want to make it customized and make it look exactly what's in your head, knowing how to code can go a long way. So it's great to be able to quickly validate ideas if you know how to code next. Understanding what it takes to build something with a programming language gives you an appreciation and understanding of how long and expensive your next project will take. Whether it's a new website design, whether it's a software product you're developing, whether it's a coaching package and you need some sales pages or checkout process or an integration with your tools, you'll think twice because you'll know how much work it will take to make those small changes. And you'll maybe consider that in the decisions you're making. Understanding what it takes is really important because then you can evaluate if this is worth your investment of time and money. Also, you know how much you should be charged, how long it actually takes, how much time it will take a developer. Because if you're a very junior developer and you're hiring somebody who's an expert, it should take them a whole lot faster. So it gives you the confidence you're not going to get ripped off. I talked about integrations before, okay? A lot of people feel like they're boxed in when they're choosing options or tools for their business. Whether it's a CRM, a website builder, a landing page builder, any kind of software. They feel like, oh, if it doesn't integrate my tools, I can't use it. Well, that's if they don't have a direct integration, okay? But every tool can integrate with any tool if they have an API. If you know how to code, you don't have to worry if they have a direct integration where it's just click a few buttons and you integrate. If they have a tool that you really love, but they don't have an integration yet, you can build it. You can actually build an API integration with their current tools. I've done it, and it's actually not that hard because every product that has an API has some documents that you can just follow step by step. And I've done this over a weekend, okay? So you don't have to be boxed in. You have more options if you know how to code. And you can buy more competitively priced products because here's a little secret. People that know how to code save a lot of money because products that don't have all those bells and whistles and easy to use kind of integrations, they're a whole lot cheaper because they depend on an engineer type person, a coder type of person, to be able to build their own integrations the way they see fit. Now, I run a software company, Webinar Ninja. I don't write a line of code on the app. I have a team of engineers that are far more experienced and far more skilled than I am. But sometimes we have bugs, sometimes we have issues that we need to solve. This is just natural with any software company. Sometimes we want to come up with new updates, new features, and it's good to have an external brain in the kitchen. Okay, what do I mean by that? I'll often join our engineering meetings and they'll explain a problem that they're having with a feature or the development of a feature. And if I understand the logic of the code, I understand how it works, how it has its dependencies on the database, how it has dependencies on the front end or the back end, I understand how it all Works because I have experience developing something before I can give my input and say, hey, why don't we do it this way? It's a little bit simpler, and it basically does the same thing that we want to do for our customers. Sometimes an engineer will not see that because they're just saying, hey, I got to implement this feature because this is what's requested, this is what says on the job ticket. But as a manager, you can go in and say, hey, I understand that this is how it works. So why don't we just do it this way? This is a shortcut. This is a simplified version. And you understand that not going to overcomplicate things. So you're able to advise your team to develop better. Even if you have a team of engineers to get to basically the most important thing that that feature needs to do or the most efficient way, they're in the sea of code, so sometimes they can't see that. Become a better problem solver, and you help your team with that perspective, with the understanding of what it takes to pull it off. At the end of the day, knowing how to code is basically pure creation. Being able to create things and knowing how to create things from scratch also means you know how to fix things, you know how to solve problems. Because usually a creation is an answer to solve a problem. And that cadence, that rhythm, that practice, is something that you can take on and use in your business other problems outside of coding. For example, when you start to learn how to code, dealing with absolutes, you're dealing with what you know to be true. How does this work? What's the logic of the code? Is something that you learn very quickly. When you start to learn how to code, what are the rules? So when you are trying to solve any problem in your business, you can ask the same questions. What do I know for sure? What is absolutely true? What will happen if I do this? What will happen if I do that? You know how to weigh your options and play out things to see how they would run. Like if you run the code, this allows you to be a little bit more analytical with your decision making. This is very healthy for every founder because we tend to insert our own emotions, our own biases in our decision making. And by leaning on our experience with coding, we can be a little bit more analytical, a little bit more removed, and just rely on facts. To me, this is the biggest gift of coding, is that it teaches you, it trains you to understand the nature of things. This is the nature of this program. This is what it does. These are the rules. These are the contingencies. These are the exceptions. So you look at everything in that lens in your business, you say, hey, what's the situation here? What's the nature of this relationship? What are we trying to do here? What happens if we do this? What's the contingency of this contract? It all is relatable.

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Up today's lesson, Learning how to code can be fun. It could be a great activity and a great way to broaden your skills as an entrepreneur. If you're looking to pick up a new skill, I highly recommend you check it out. If you're on a budget, I Recommend Checking out CodeAcademy. It's absolutely free and you can get started right now. Another free option is freecodecamp.org and if you're looking for a paid fun option, check out Treehouse. You can go to team treehouse.com and Treehouse has a seven day trial. So if you just want to dip your toe and check it out and even pass a trial, it's $25 a month. It's a meal really. Thank you so much for listening to the Hundred dollar MBA show. If you loved today's episode, let people know about it on social media. Share this episode you can just share the link100nba.net MBA 1756 that's a lot of episodes. Over 1700 episodes. And if you want them all, hit subscribe so you can get them automatically for free. Before I go, I want to leave you with this Learning how to code and learning a new programming language is like learning any new language. It expands your brain, it gives you a new perspective on things, and it's definitely a skill that you can use for years to come. Thanks so much for listening and I'll check you in. Tomorrow's episode Free Riot Friday. I'll see you then. Take care.

USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA you can bundle your auto and home and save 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usaa. Com Bundle restrictions apply.