Insider Fix emails have been providing thousands of my readers with three problem-solving fixes for a couple of months now and allowing them to harvest the benefits of my 1 + 1 + 1 = 10x formula. I hope by sending you this newsletter I can help shift your focus from reactive to proactive and ultimately help you grow both personally and professionally. Enjoy.
Clear on business . . .
I’m a big fan of James Clear and his book, Atomic Habits. Here’s a list of business principles he tweeted a little over a year ago. Some really great observations here.
1. Create something useful. If it doesn’t deliver value to the reader, don’t do it.
2. Create something timeless. The more evergreen your work, the longer timeline you have to find success.
3. Optimize for time before money. The most important question is, “How do I want to spend my days?” Make as few choices as possible that violate your answer.
4. Build assets that compound. Eliminate problems, responsibilities, and obligations that compound. Your business should feel easier to sustain each year.
5. Optimize for reach over revenue. Choose to reach more people rather than squeeze out another dollar. You’ll help more folks and the person with the largest audience usually ends up with more money anyway.
6. Once you start making money, do not sacrifice your lifestyle simply to make more money. Again, first ask, “How do I want to spend my days?” Then, within that subset, “How can I make the most money possible?”
7. Be patient. Think longer-term than anyone else in your industry. Be impatient. Don’t let a day pass without doing something that contributes to your long-term vision.
8. Continually ask, “What is the highest leverage thing we can do right now?” Then, spend at least two minutes today working on that thing.
9. Reduce the scale, not your standards. Aspire to do exceptional work and apply that standard to everything. Book. Article. Tweet. Doesn’t matter the size. In the long run, your brand is the quality of work you do. Sacrifice quality—anywhere—and you sacrifice the brand.
10. Own your distribution. (In my case, my website and email list.)
11. Spend as much time as possible doing the actual work (the thing that delivers value) and as little time as possible doing the “pre-work” that fills the calendars of most people. Example: Have as few meetings as possible.
12. Build a small team of exceptional people. Recruit exceptional employees. Hire exceptional freelancers. Work with exceptional partners. Always seek to work with the best and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Great people want to work with you because great people already do.
13. Run lean. Hire slowly and keep your team as small as possible. Find a way to do it without hiring another person. Use freelancers and build partnerships before creating another full-time role.
14. Stay small even if you can afford to be big. The more people you have on the team, the harder it is to get everyone rowing in the same direction. The cost of consensus is more expensive than the cost of payroll.
15. Share the profit with employees. Get the incentives aligned. Everyone should get a slice of the upside. When the business wins, we all win.
16. Be easy to work with. Nobody wants to add friction to their life. Make sure each relationship you build is a win for the other side. Win-win is the only kind of relationship that is sustainable.
17. Negotiate expenses yearly. Analyze all of your expenses and eliminate anything you no longer need. With your biggest expenses, look up the latest pricing of their competitors and ask them to beat the lowest price. If there is no relevant competitor, ask for 20% off.
18. Continually reach out to people who do the kind of work you aspire to do. Build friendships with exceptional people.
19. Reinvent yourself. Time erodes every advantage. Evolve or die.
Empower yourself as a buyer . . .
Companies without a purchasing department (and even some that have one) think they need to sign whatever order form the supplier sends them. Next time you place an order for a large supply item or service, send your supplier your own company’s “Purchasing Policy, Terms and Conditions”. Remember, each party’s pre-printed contract is almost universally written in their favor, not the other side’s, and usually not evenly. You’re the buyer and you have more power than you think. Your document can have useful terms concerning warranties from your vendor, remedies for breach, shipment, insurance, legal compliance, confidentiality, dispute resolution, termination, and others.
This won’t work with some companies significantly larger than yours and may slow down the buying process with other companies, so do this selectively, or when you have plenty of lead time before you need the delivery made, or with companies who really want your business. Give them a turn-around deadline for your document. Alternatively, you can direct them to your document in response to their contract document or order confirmation, and add language to your document confirming that your document supersedes theirs (you’ll want to get that signed). Discuss this process with your attorney.
Here’s a sample warranty paragraph for a purchase order for goods (a P.O. for services has slightly different language):
Warranty. Supplier warrants to Buyer that the goods purchased under this P.O. are: (i) free of defects in materials, workmanship or design, in conformance with the Specifications, vest in Buyer good and valid title to the goods free and clear of all liens, encumbrances, security interests, burdens and/or other claims; and (ii) free of infringement or violation of any copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights, or any other applicable law, rule, regulation or order.
Unless a longer warranty period is provided by Supplier, the warranty period is one (1) year from date of acceptance of goods by Buyer. The warranty period for repaired or replaced goods is one (1) year from the date of acceptance by Buyer. If a defect or nonconformance in materials, workmanship or design is discovered during the one (1) year warranty period, Buyer may, at its option: (i) return the goods to Supplier at Supplier’s expense for a full refund of the purchase price; (ii) require Supplier to repair or replace the Defective Product within five (5) days of receipt thereof; or (iii) exercise any other rights that Buyer may have in law or in equity.
Goods that are returned to Buyer under this warranty after repair or replacement are subject to the same inspection and acceptance provisions of this P.O. as goods originally delivered. If Buyer returns goods under this warranty to Supplier for repair or replacement, Supplier shall repair or replace goods with non-defective, conforming goods within five (5) days of receipt thereof. Supplier shall pay all costs related to repairing or replacing such goods, including, but not limited to: labor, materials, inspection and shipping costs to and from Buyer’s facilities. If Buyer incurs any such costs directly, Buyer may recover such costs from Supplier or offset such amount against unpaid purchase orders for other goods. Supplier will transfer any manufacturer’s warranties to Buyer.
Notice how many contingencies this single provision addresses. Use this process and the overall purchasing policy wisely and it can save you a lot of headaches down the road.
Around the world in 20 insults . . .
For a little levity, here are some slanderously silly sayings from across the globe. Some of my favorites:
• Armenia: It’s not pretty watching a jackass eat a pomegranate (when someone is clumsy)
• Finland: Your mother mates with a reindeer.
• Serbia: May your wife give birth to a centipede so you have to work for shoes all your life.
If you want more, here’s another funny one: 13 foreign insults that sound hilarious when translated into English.
