The Two Loops That Keep Business Owners Stuck
Most independent business owners don’t have an idea problem. They have a follow-through problem.
That’s not a knock. It’s a pattern, and it shows up everywhere, including in my own life. Earlier this year I took my daughter on a mission trip to Guatemala with a group of dads and their teenage daughters. Before we left, I warned the girls that the high wouldn’t last. The inspiration would fade, and the real test would be what they did once it did: put it to work, or go looking for the next feeling.
Business owners face that same test, usually more than once a quarter. It tends to show up in one of two loops.
The Podcast Loop
You hear a great episode. You get fired up. You get an idea. You try it between fires, half-committed and distracted. It doesn’t stick, so you go back for another episode and another dose of motivation.
The Conference Loop
You spend three days offsite and come home sure this one idea will change everything. You hand it to your team. Nobody owns it, including you. A few months later you’re booking the next conference.
Both loops feel productive. Neither one is.
The real cost
The obvious cost is that ideas never get fully built. The bigger cost is that the loop keeps you busy enough to avoid the work you already know needs doing: the pricing conversation, the underperformer, the process nobody follows, the numbers you haven’t looked at in months.
Most owners can name that work in under a minute. Naming it isn’t the hard part. Doing it is.
How to break the loop
- Write down the one problem you’re avoiding. Not five. One.
- Put a name and a date on it. If the name is yours, say so out loud.
- Stop collecting new ideas until it’s done. Skip the next conference. Pause the podcast queue. Give it 90 days.
- Get someone outside the business to hold you to it. Inspiration fades. Accountability doesn’t.
- Check it every week. If it isn’t on your scorecard, it isn’t getting done.
Where to start
If you already know the problem but can’t seem to get to it, that’s exactly what a Pulse-Check is built for: an onsite look at your operation, your numbers and your systems, followed by a written report and a plan for what to fix first.
Book a Pulse-Check conversation
Want one practical idea like this every Wednesday? Subscribe to Main Street Edge, the weekly email for independent business owners.
Andy Hamilton, Founder, Main Street Smarts