Gavin Zuchlinkski was perfectly happy to put his head down and build the product that became Acuity Scheduling. Like most introverted entrepreneurs, Gavin didn’t feel a need to build his personal brand or seek external validation, so he spent his time early on focused on perfecting the product itself. But now that Acuity has grown to support over 50,000 businesses of all sizes, Gavin is stepping into the spotlight as the human face behind the product.
Gavin built the scheduling tool in 2006 to save his mom a little time. She was frustrated by the hassle of dealing with appointments for her massage therapy business, so Gavin created Acuity to save her the headache, automating the process by allowing clients to schedule themselves online. The app grew organically as other small businesses got on board, and by 2009, Gavin realized that Acuity was big enough to be his day job. He quit a career he enjoyed at Berico Technologies to devote his energy to Acuity full-time, with the goal of providing unmatched, one-on-one customer support to clients.
Today Gavin explains how Acuity Scheduling allows businesses to offer and manage appointments online, freeing them up to focus on doing what they love. He shares how his ability to be happy in the moment keeps him from being consumed by the business and why he is an advocate of the six-hour workday. Listen in and learn how being ‘media shy’ actually served him well in the early stages of Acuity and how he ensures that his time spent making public appearances is genuinely valuable!
In this episode you’ll learn…
- How Gavin built Acuity Scheduling for his mom’s business.
- His reluctance to be the ‘human face behind the product.’
- How Acuity Scheduling helps businesses manage appointments online.
- How Acuity generates revenue via a monthly subscription model.
- The most useful features of Acuity.
- How the scheduling tool integrates with Zapier to give users additional flexibility.
- How Gavin’s initial focus on the product over building a personal brand served him well.
- Why he prefers more curated relationships like podcast interviews over networking events.
- The ‘tipping point’ when Gavin had to make a choice between his full-time job and Acuity.
- The benefits of building your business as a side gig.
- Why Gavin advocates six-hour workdays.
- How he leverages Trello to manage long-term tasks, take notes and organize research.
- The way personal goals affect your business.
Other links and resources mentioned in this episode:
Pitching for Introverts Training Program
Acuity Free Trial for IBG Listeners
Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur by Derek Sivers
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Sarah