In this Issue

🫀    Simplify to Grow
🥩    Trim the Fat
🗑️    Eliminate Systems Waste

🫀  Simplify to Grow

Complexity is the enemy of growth.

When you target four or five market segments, have multiple product and service lines, and run customer surveys to figure out what your customers really want… you’ve got a growth problem!

Simplify your business in two areas:

1. Market: Who and where are the customers that will drive your next stage of growth?
2. Omissions: Omit needless activities, customers, products, and systems that won’t carry your business to the next level.

Companies have predictable revenue plateaus:

• $1 million
• $3 million
• $10 million
• $30 million
• $100 million

Each plateau involves a major shift for the business. It requires different skills, resources, and systems to break through the plateau and reach the next level.

At each level there is a recognition that “what got you here won’t get you there.” The team, systems, and approach that got you to $3 million aren’t the same at $10 or $30 million.

The issue is crossing each revenue plateau requires simplicity over complexity. Double down on what’s working and omit the activities that won’t carry you to the next level.

One Stat to Watch

26%

Process inefficiencies waste 26% of an employee’s workday, according to OnePoll.

🥩  Trim the Fat

Velocity is a measure of how quickly it takes to close a sale.

Velocity is a relatively easy metric to capture. Track the time it takes a customer to move through each phase of your sales funnel from inquiry to close.

You can start with some simple metrics:

• How long does it take for your organization to respond to a website lead? (Anything over twenty-four hours is too long.)
• How long does it take for a customer to receive pricing?
• How long does it take to move a customer from inquiry to close?

Once you have time measurements, you can start looking for fat to trim. What can you cut to make it easier for your customers to buy?

Again and again, organizations complicate things. It may be best practice to have in-person meetings or write detailed proposals, but is that what the customer really wants?

Put yourself in your customers’ shoes:

• What do they want?
• When do they want it?
• How can you make it super easy to buy your services?

If you get obsessive about making buying your services simple and easy, you’ll find there’s plenty of fat in your sales process — fat you’ll be glad to trim.

🗑️  Eliminate Systems Waste

Almost half of what a business does is waste.

I know my company does things that are unproductive. We’ve been in business since 2011, and systems build up over time. And for us, a lot of our foundational systems were created before we had a desire to scale.

According to Ron Wince, former CEO of Guidon, “Half of a company’s processes are waste.” These are systems that don’t drive revenue, improve productivity, or bring value to customers. These are just things companies do because they’ve always done them that way.

Your company can’t achieve its full potential if it’s carrying the weight of legacy systems.

To break free of old processes, tackle a major business initiative every year. You don’t want to get too comfortable or complacent.

Purposefully review, and if required, upgrade your business systems annually. This helps your company to remain nimble, relevant, and efficient.

🤔  Thoughts on Today’s Issue?

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