Planning for the end

We know how to plan new products, new features, how to start.

But do we know how to plan how to end?

If we’re lucky, our products and services will survive – thrive, even – for the length of time they were designed for.

But the web (and beyond) is littered with discontinued products. ‘Page Not Found’ 404 errors where dreams used to live. Services people trust, gone, due to red balance sheets or an acquisition.

We don’t deserve the trust we ask of people when we birth a new product, if we’ll be reckless with that trust when it dies.

We don’t deserve the subscribers we want when we launch a newsletter, if we’ll merely walk away from our relationships when we tire of the idea.

Planning the end is as important as planning the start, if we’re to be worth following, subscribing to, or doing business with.