Business 300

There’s a point in your business building efforts where you’ve given everything you have and the problem is still there. The choice is obvious. Quit, or keep going. It’s not complicated. But it most definitely is difficult. And that’s where most businesses die. Not because the problem was unsolvable. But because the owner ran out of will before they ran out of options.

Maybe you’re a guy who’s got ideas. Lots of them. You’re constantly seeing opportunities, imagining possibilities, thinking about what could be. And maybe, because you’ve got ideas, you call yourself a visionary. Maybe you’ve even convinced others to do so too. But being a visionary takes more than just having ideas.

With knowing that order and control is a means to the end of customer-value, not an end in and of itself, you can build a Value-Centered Administrative System. Here’s what the looks like.

Order and control are good. And there's a way to do it right. But not when your business suffers from the Administrative Drift.

Giving someone a task doesn't free you from responsibility. It changes what you're responsible for - from doing the work to ensuring the work gets done well.

Delegation isn't abdication.

The year doesn’t owe you anything. But it also doesn’t prevent you from getting what you can earn. The opportunity is still there. The customers are still buying. The problems are still solvable. You just have to stop expecting it to be easy.

Instead, go into this year expecting resistance and setbacks. Expect things to go sideways. And instead of being shocked when they do, be prepared.

Get after it and make it happen. You’re not owed anything.

What if you want to get more done this year than just 3 things? That's great. So do I. So then set goals on a quarterly basis, instead of an annual one. 3 priorities for the next 3 months. You finish those, you can add some more. If you don't finish them, you keep at it for the next batch of 3 months. I look at my year 13 weeks at a time. Control how much food you put on your plate, and you'll be surprised how much healthier you'll be.

You don't win by doing everything. You win by doing the right things well. And there are only a few right things. 

Set fewer goals. Hit more targets.

If you feel motivated now, great. Use that motivation to build yourself a follow-through system. Motivation is a spark. Systems are the engine. Build the engine.

Start boring. Finish strong.

Systems beat motivation, every time.

Vision without categories is a foreign language. People need frameworks to understand what you're talking about. They're imagination is limited to their current mental paradigms.

Leaders create those frameworks, as they build the mental architecture that turns tasks into meaningful contribution.

Leader create categories.

Consider raising your prices. Not arbitrarily. But strategically. Identify the customer segment that values what you do and is willing to pay for it. Then price for them. Yes, you'll lose some customers. That's the point. You're filtering them out.

Stop pricing defensively. Start pricing strategically. Filter for quality, not volume. You get what you charge. Price is a filter, not a barrier.