Building Strong Beats Building Fast

We live in an instant gratification society.

Favorite take out? It'll be at your door in 27 minutes.

Want to get away? Your whole trip can be booked in 11 minutes.

And waiting for Season 2 on Netflix? Yeah. You don't have to.

There's one problem with this, though…

It's changing how we think about building businesses.

And social media isn't helping.

The myth we're all tempted to believe: 3x YoY growth while maintaining healthy margins, a good culture, and consistent customer experience is not only possible… it's easy!

While technology has changed a lot of things…

It hasn't changed the laws of business.

This is still a competitive world.

In any market, a lot of people are competing for limited resources…

(Customers, top talent, capital, etc.)

And shortcuts, while appealing, rarely work out well in the long-term.

My hope in writing this article is to quickly dispel this myth…

And remind us all that "strong growth" beats "fast growth."

More is not better. Better is better.

This is a key principle for me that applies to every area of business…

More customers should not be the goal. Better customers should be.

More people should not be the goal. Better people should be.

More products should not be the goal. Better products should be.

Because with each one of these….

Trying to "quickly" add without a focus on quality will lead to big problems.

Customer churn. Team performance issues. Product quality hiccups.

And the bigger we get, the harder these will be to solve.

On the other hand, if we double down on quality…

We'll find that we have customers that stay longer.

We'll find that we have a more productive and happier team (that also stays longer).

And we'll find that our operational delivery is more seamless than we ever thought possible.

Here are a few thoughts on building strong:

1) If a prospect hassles you during the sales process, they are going to hassle you even more when actually paying you.

This is hugely missed in B2B, especially in professional services.

If a prospect is angry that you were 2 minutes late to your scheduled call…

Do you really think they will take it easier on you once you're their "vendor"?

Or, if they are arguing whether your hourly rate is worth it at your second sales meeting…

Do you think they will suddenly change their mind?

2) Hire fewer "really good people"—and pay them more.

This is another counterintuitive one.

Top talent often knows what they are worth…

(Or will soon figure it out if they don't!)

But, top talent is also super productive.

So even in small businesses…

It usually makes sense to be really picky about hiring only amazing people.

Then paying them what they are worth.

This way, they stay for a long time—and you reap the benefits.

3) Raise your prices!

The best partnerships are big win/wins for BOTH sides.

When a customer is getting amazing value out of working with you…

They will be happy to pay more. And they will be a much more valuable customer for you.

Raising prices is one of the best ways to find customers that actually value what you do.

4) Think twice about adding new products and services.

Less fun? Maybe.

But for every one business that is over-focused on delivering a narrow product or service with absolute excellence…

Something like nine have gone way too broad and are delivering too much with too little focus.

5) Be patient. Really, really patient.

This is by far the hardest one.

"Building strong" can be slow, thankless work.

It won't get you the most likes on LinkedIn…

Or "wow, you guys are exploding!" comments from friends.

But, long-term, you'll build a much better business by building strong.

CONCLUSION:

The choice is yours:

Fast or strong.

As we look to the rest of 2025, I'm choosing strong.