We all crave simplicity – I do, you do, it’s universal. If you believe the running man theory of evolution, our endurance made us able to run after gazelles and springboks on the savannah. Our brains made it possible to catch them.
Our brains became hard wired to find the simplest and most efficient way to accomplish any task. It’s why we are human. It’s why we look for the easy way to do stuff. It’s how it is. We also need to know our brain’s limitations.
Why make something twice as hard as we need to? If I can catch a springhare using the half the energy you use we both have a springhare. It’s the earliest form of Dan Kennedys quote, “There is no difficulty bonus when banking your profits.”
The limitations of our efficiency drive are obvious all around us. It’s caused our obesity as a society. If we can eat and sit on our butts all day – then why ever run? There are so many studies pointing out that if we get 30 minutes of cardio exercise a day we would be much happier. But it’s far easier to sit around and eat chips than it is to go run, ride a bike, do Zoomba or anything else you care to mention.
This drive for efficiency has seen mass production, the smart phone, and many other inventions that make our lives ‘easier.’ It is the primal force behind:
“What’s the One Thing I Can Do To Grow My Business?”
So when people start asking about the One Thing they need to do to grow their business, they either don’t like the answer or there is no one thing.
My glib answer to “What is the one thing I need to do to grow my business?” should be “Build a complete marketing system that is able to acquire, retain, grow and monetise customers as well as get the lost ones back. Oh and it should be customised to suit your business.”
If you strip it back maybe it should be “Don’t Be Average.” No average business has all of that. Look at the most successful. Copy what they do and figure out how to add to it.
If it only took one thing to be in the top 1% then we would all be in the top 1%. It’s being able to follow a chain of ‘things’ through to get compound growth getting you far ahead of the masses.
The difference between success and failure is fine. There are only a couple of things we do better than our competitors. They make a massive difference.
Seriously, who sends a gift out with a customer’s first purchase? We do. Who has systems in place to leverage the good will generated from the gift? We do. Not that much of difference in difficulty to implement. Massive difference in results. Don’t look for the one ‘thing.’ Look for 5 small things that will all add up together. That is how you really grow a business.