You’ve outgrown the system that got you here

You’re running a pro race in your high school sneakers.

Hi y’all,

Almost nobody sets out to run the business they’re running today. You started doing one thing. A client asked for something else, so you added it. Then another service, then a hire, and now there’s a crew, a warehouse, and more tools than you started with.

What usually hasn’t changed is the system you set up back when it was just you. Some of that’s software. Some of it is the spreadsheet on the side, the group text, the step only you know how to do. There’s real comfort in all of it. It’s muscle memory by now.

I just got back from DJX, and this pattern came up in almost every conversation. Here’s how I’ve started explaining it: you got a pair of sneakers in high school and they served you well. You wore them into college sports and they kinda held on. Now you’re running a pro race in them. They’ll still get you from point A to point B. They’re also two sizes too small.

Watch my sneaker analogy, here:

Some signals are loud. Most aren’t. You can raise one baby in a one-bedroom apartment. You can make that work while the kid’s little. Add a second and you’re moving, no debate. Business rarely gets that obvious, and changing before you’re forced takes vision and a little courage.

Ask the people in it every day. I talk with my team about what’s working and what isn’t, and I don’t always love the answer. Working in a silo? One tell is the workaround you’d struggle to explain to a new hire.

You don’t have to change it all at once. Wouldn’t it be nice to map it all out in 24 hours and be done. That’s not how it goes. Start with the one piece costing you the most right now, and change that.

So what are you still running on that was built for an earlier stage business?

See you next Monday,

Mallory Mullen

Goodshuffle