Sometimes the fastest way to grow your business is not to add anything new.
But rather to strip away the old.
Old tactics. Old products. Old ways of thinking.
There’s power in reduction. Every element you strip away from your business allows you to focus more deeply on what is left.
It takes courage to throw out what you have. It’s so easy to stick with what you’re used to.
But when you regularly strip away the unnecessary and extraneous, you are left with a far fitter, leaner, more effective business.
With that in mind, here are some powerful questions to ask yourself, to help you strip away the clutter in your company’s strategy and operations:
1. What products or services don’t make me much money or take a lot of time to deliver? What if I dropped them?
2. Should I get rid of all clients that waste a lot of my time or don’t spend enough?
3. Which staff aren’t excellent? Can I train them to be great or should I get rid of them?
4. Which jobs in my company would be better outsourced?
5. Which business relationships should I end or reduce time on?
6. Which suppliers should be dropped?
7. Which marketing methods should be cancelled or reduced?
8. Should I change or drop my current brand/company positioning?
9. What office furniture, filing or administration materials should I throw out?
10. What ways of thinking or behaving no longer serve me and should be dropped?
Keep these questions so you can come back to them – every quarter is ideal. Strip away what’s not great regularly.
They’ll keep you and your business sharp, efficient, effective and profitable.
