Design Your Business For Growth

How many business owners do you know that are not working really hard? Probably not that many. Many entrepreneurs work hard by choice, simply because they love it. But most entrepreneurs work hard out of pure necessity for survival.?

Anyone who lives in survival mode knows it’s not a good place to be.?

You miss out on the wonders and the fun of entrepreneurship.

I go around telling business owners who are not getting wealthier and happier every month that their business is broken. I say that to provoke them to start changing things, but I also really mean it.?

I think we have been conditioned to believe that entrepreneurs are supposed to “grind and hustle”, to suffer, stress, and feel maxed out all day, every day. After all, how else will you achieve the dream?

I buy that idea only when you start out, or when you go through a phase of reinvention. But let’s be honest. If you have not made your business work after a year or two, something is definitely broken. And sometimes it’s the entrepreneur that is broken. Well, at least their mindset.??

A business that works is a business that is profitable, predictable and satisfies both customers and owners.?

Having gone through all this suffering, stress, and anxiousness for many years as a business owner, helping people who are where I was 8+ years ago has become a mission of mine (and my colleagues too).

So what if you are in a situation I used to be in. What should you do?

Let’s explore why so many businesses don’t work. What makes them broken?

Many reasons, for sure. I will propose that most reasons fall under one root problem;?

Businesses that don’t work have not been designed to do so.?

“Design” is such a misunderstood word, just like “Brand”, and many other words in business.?

To the far majority, design is a noun, not a verb.?

To many, design is about products, packaging, style, stuff we can point our fingers at.?

But to very few, design is also about the intangible.?

This brings me to the concept of business design.?

When you design a business, you are intentional about why and how things should work, leaving nothing to chance.

When you apply design to a business, you are essentially connecting all the pieces that must be connected for a business to work. You connect the visible with the invisible.?

A business is a system consisting of both the visible (products, packaging, people, visuals, words etc.)? and the invisible (strategy, culture, emotions and energy…)

Here lies both the problem and the opportunity.?

If you are struggling to make your business work, if you’re trying to remove yourself as the bottleneck, or solve any other problem in your business, I recommend you start by designing your business all over again.?

Yep, back to the drawing board.?

Start by mapping out your current business to identify its flaws.?

What insights do you have??

Maybe you need to research some prospects and customers.

And you probably need some new ideas and concepts.?

Create a prototype of your business. Map it out. Visualize it.?

What does your business look like?

How could it work better??

Design both the front-end and the back-end.?

Your business should work like an engine. All parts are supposed to work together, and if they don’t, even one broken part can make the whole engine break.?

For example:

Let’s say you are running an agency.?

You, the owner, feel maxed out and capped at $2 million in revenue.

You have a team of 8 people.?

The likely reason you are maxed out at this level is that you are the linchpin of your company. Everything depends on you. And while that may make you feel significant, it also means you are the bottleneck. The company will not grow beyond you. So, what if you found other linchpins and supported them instead? That’s real leadership.?

The solution would be to start to design a new version of your company, one where you have a much more “limited” role, the role of a real entrepreneur. This process can be hard (I struggled hard with it), but it’s the only way out of your problem. Trust me.

Every aspect of your business can and should be designed, from your business model to your offer, your systems and processes, and the whole customer experience. Anything that is left up to chance, or is handled ad-hoc, is a vote for complexity and inconsistency (which leads to constant stress and failure).?

The greatest companies and brands in the world are that way because they have been designed to be that way.?

Imagine building a logistics company, like FedEx.?

Without exceptional design, it would be impossible.

Yet most business owners operate their businesses without systems and processes.?

The truth is, your business could be significantly bigger and more profitable. Mine too. Most businesses have infinite growth potential, yet achieve only a fraction of it.?

There is no good reason you could not 10x your growth, profitability, and entrepreneurial freedom. It only takes good design, followed by great execution.?

And as you make the decision to design your business (all parts of it), I suggest you make it your goal to design for simplicity.

Simple is beautiful.?

Simple is faster.

Simple is profitable.?

Simple is growth.?

Simple is…freedom.?

First, get rid of the waste, the complexity, and the clutter.

Then, discover and keep only the essentials.

Work on the parts, then integrate them as a whole.

Make your business beautiful, even on the inside.?

I’ll take a simplified business over a “normal” business any time of the day.?

Simplify your “front-stage” (offering, experience), and you’ll create an offer that becomes more attractive (higher conversion rates, more sales, more customers). Simplify your backstage (operations), and you’ll serve clients better, at higher profits, and keep more clients.?

At The Simple Company, this is what we do with clients and their businesses.?

Simplicity is magic.?

Or to put it in a more pragmatic way…

Only simplicity works.?

Anything else is sub-optimal, complex, and ugly.?

Once a business works (it’s validated and profitable), and a Growth Engine is installed (a systematic way to attract, convert, and deliver value for clients), the business is ready for exponential growth.?

Clarify. Simplify. Multiply.?

We’re going all in on simplicity in 2023.?

We’re about to announce some changes for the new year soon.?

If you’d like to experience The Simple Company as a potential client, DM me

If you’d like to apply to become a consultant with us, DM me

Wishing you an excellent rest of the week,

Tobias