Reading between the lines
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There’s a lot to learn in a professional services business between the day you open your doors and the day you sell or retire or whatever it is you do next. And there are a million different angles you can take to improve the future based on the past.
Here is a line graph of my previous business over an eleven-year period. It looks like I asked my four-year-old to draw a line (or the actual path from point A to point B in a client project) but bear with me.
I can look at this graph and the dates and remember what I was doing at that time (and what was going on in the world at that time) and figure out what I did well, what I did badly and what was out of my control.
I could also slice that graph into a few growth categories or ranges, list out what had the most impact in one range and how those learnings transition into new insights for the next range. i.e. 0–$200k, $200k–$600k, $600k–$1.2m, $1.2m–$3m, etc.
In the earlier stages, shaping and packaging what makes you different, building consistency, and getting clear on your direction matter more than perfecting certain systems and processes. Over time, the systems and processes become more important, while still keeping a pulse on the others.
The point is, different principles matter at different stages and what’s critical in year one (or size one) might be irrelevant or need adjusting in year five (or size five), and vice versa.
And, sometimes you do stuff for a period and then forget about it in the next period. This exercise might help you to remember.
Overall, it’s a mix of consistency, positioning, process and making more good decisions than bad from the start that will smooth out the line and keep it moving up and to the right.
Pick 3-4 inflection points and ask yourself what you did well, what you’d change and what was simply beyond your control, and figure out how you can apply or evolve those insights to your business today.
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