2d • 💬 Discussion
FOCUS
The hardest part of building a real business is not what you say “yes” to.
It’s what you have to say “no” to.
If you’re like me, “shiny objects” are real.
New machines. New ideas. New services. New side business.
The toughest part?
You could probably do most of it pretty well.
But that’s what makes it dangerous.
Discipline for guys like us isn't about “waking up early” or “working hard” — that's in our DNA
Discipline is this:
Being able to look at all the fun, new ideas and say,
“No. I’m going to fix the one hard problem in my business first.”
In your business, the thing you NEED to do almost always feels harder than the thing you WANT to do.
Why?
Because you don’t know how to do it yet.
Or maybe you kind of know what to do… but you know it will take longer than you want.
So instead of addressing the "hard thing" head on, most operators:
Buy a new machine or attachment
Research "better" machine upgrades or HP options
Start a new service (like excavation)
Switch to a new service area
Tinker with new software to “optimize” the backend
But the truth is, we just need to be honest and ask:
- What is actually holding my business back right now?
- Am I spending my time fixing THAT thing?
If cash is your bottleneck, you fix your prices until you make real profit
If leads are your bottleneck, you learn how to market better until more leads come in
If closing is your bottleneck, you call/text leads faster until you start winning more jobs
Not “another project.”
Not “build a house on the side.”
Not “add a second business.”
Not “research the latest high-flow technology”
The question is not, “What else could I do?”
The better questions are:
“What's the bottleneck in my business right now?”
“What am I not doing because I don't know how?”
Step 1: Tell the truth about the single most important problem in your business that is:
- taking way too long to fix, or
- you really don’t know how to fix
Step 2: Bite down on that problem like a log in the grapple and don’t let go until it’s in the pile.
That’s the game we're playing in this community.
We're not going to chase every shiny new thing.
We're not going to encourage you to "add another service"
We're going to encourage you to identify the 1 THING that's holding you back right now...
Identify it.
Attack it.
Crush it.
When you crush the thing that's holding you back, your business will grow.
It's that simple... it just takes FOCUS.
P.S. I'm speaking to myself as much as anyone here and I hope that my experiences can save some of you time, money, and headache in this group.
Since starting Bear Claw 3 years ago, I also started:
-power washing business
-hot tub service business
-added excavation as a service
-added snow plowing & shoveling as a service
While all of these things made money, I've realized that the REAL cost was the opportunity cost...
How much more would we have grown had I focused all of my time growing the one core service?
If I could go back and tell myself 3 things to grow faster, it would be this:
- Get crystal clear on the core service (the 1 service we will offer)
- Define our ideal customer profile (the person we will market & sell our services to)
- Market, sell, & deliver more of the core service to more of the ideal customers
So here's the challenge for you:
if you can only pick 1 core service to sell, what's it gonna be?
Post yours in the comments below ⬇️
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FOCUS
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