Ones and Threes in Business
Someone told me recently that in business, the ones and threes are hard. “What does that mean?” I asked. “It’s the ones and threes that matter.” He said. “When you first start in business, it is really hard to get to $100,000. You have to figure it out. After you get to $100,000, you have to change almost everything in order to get to $300,000. Then, everything has to change again in order to get to a million in annual revenue. After a million, everything has to change again to get to 3 million, and so on….” “That’s really interesting,” I said. “It’s true for employees, too. The first one is hard, then it is hard at three, then ten, then thirty. The ones and threes are hard for employees, too.” “Hmmm,” I said. I love this. It fits exactly with what I do as a coach. Probably the biggest One in business is the very first dollar and the hardest employee is the first one. That is why so many businesses hang their first $1 bill on the wall and why so many entrepreneurs think, “I’ll just do it myself!” In order to take that first $1 bill, all the parts of the business have to be in place and operational. In order to hire the first employee, the business owner has to start making explicit what they have been doing intuitively. In my work as a business coach, I help people figure out what has to change in order to get to the next milestone. Many times there are a few levers that free the business up to slide more easily to the next level. I start with businesses that are ready to reach for a new level. Often, I come into the business around the ones or the threes. With business owners who are pretty successful at the $100,000-300,000 range, I find a leader who has big dreams and who wants to leave some kind of legacy–they want to bring...
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