Sean: So one thing that we would rarely tackle in the podcast is strategic growth. We rarely tackle this. And that's because a lot of our listeners are startup entrepreneurs are side hustlers. We also have some C-level executives listening in. And so I think this is going to be a very valuable for them. Why is strategic growth so important? And how are we going to start it if we're just considering it right now as a CEO, founder, who just started our business? Maybe it's in the growth stage. We're five years running. We're trying to get more business and it's pretty stable. We're not hand to mouth as in the startup stage already. How do we start it?

Tom: Let's simplify it. Right, I mean, as I mentioned earlier, Every company wants to grow. So any planning session is going to have some kind of assumption. We want to grow sales by 15, 20, 50%, whatever. We're going to introduce new products, which will, you know, stem to growth.

So, growth is always part of the equation. While strategic comes in, is to make sure that growth is aligned with your vision, right? Because so many companies get distracted by the new shiny object. You know, competition is doing this, you know, we got to react and do the same thing. You know, it totally takes you know, off course. Okay. I'm a, I'm a Coca-Cola and I'm about refreshment. Then Pepsi's launching all kinds of chips. You don't see Coca-Cola going into that market because it's not refreshing. Right.

The key for strategic growth is to make sure that it's aligned with your vision and you're growing. So one of the things that I try to simplify for folks, and look, I don't care if you, you know, you can, you can really complicated or just answer yourself two questions, you know, where do I put my time and where do I put my money?

Right. And, I don't care if you're an individual with a household or you're a, you know, $10 billion company. It still boils down to those two questions. How do I spend my money and how do I spend my time, “my resources”? Right? What are my people working on? That's that's. All right. And, and what investments I'm making that that's money.

So it's, it's that simple. And then you, you kinda make yourself four quadrants. Four quadrants for time and four quadrants for money. And the first quadrant is what is urgent and important. The second quadrant is what is urgent and non-important. The third quadrant is what is important, but not urgent. And the fourth quadrant obviously is not important, not urgent.

So let's spend a little bit time on that. So, let's say I'll take myself as an example. We will all spend at least 60, 65% of the time on things that are urgent and important. I mean, that's the nature of the beast, you know, it's important to us and it's also urgent.

So you got to do it right. It is family. It's your anniversary, it's urgent and important so you better take your wife out to dinner and buy some flowers because it's your anniversary, right. It's urgent and important.

Sean: Otherwise it turns into a crisis.

Tom: Exactly. But where most of us make the mistake is we spend time and money on things that are urgent, but they're not so important.

Right. And they may be important for other people, but they're not important to your cause, to your vision and to where you want to, but they are urgent, you know, they're pressing.

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