"Could you be more specific?"

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Because growth has picked up, she recently completed 2 reputable business coaching programs to help her scale wisely. But now it was time to figure out what to do and Cindy was a little overwhelmed. She booked one of my free work sessions to figure out exactly where to start and get things moving. By now you know that I always start with vision. Cindy described this beautiful scenario that included a store front plus a design team to provide wrap around design support for small businesses - developing a brand, designing their materials, and preparing large format printing for events.

But here’s where I made her get specific. I asked Cindy to focus more narrowly on the business she’s really passionate about building - the daydream version. “What if you only did the huge projects? What if you only worked with this group of clients? Or never worked with the other?” Cindy confessed - kind of reluctantly - that she actually doesn’t love the B2C work. The graduation banners and garage sale signs - they’re not energizing for her. They slow her down and she actually loses money doing them. When I asked her to imagine her business without it, she sat up really straight and grinned,💡💡 “Actually??! That’s exactly what I want!”

Her relief was visible! Can you imagine how much clarity that adds?! Letting go of the “shoulds” and leaning to the soul of the thing is transformative. It also totally changes her strategy for scale and brings a clear growth path into focus. Cindy doesn’t have to account for the expense and energy of leasing & running a storefront. She doesn’t have to devote the time and money to set up a consumer facing platform for someone’s aunt to come and order a banner for bingo night at the senior center. She gets to focus on the projects she love. And they just so happen to be the ones that make her the most money. She’s excited about the business she’s building because it’s one set up to focus on where she really shines - helping small to medium sized businesses showcase their brands in a way they’re proud of.

Can you imagine how far off we would have been if we hadn’t been more specific? This, my friends, is how getting picky changed the game for Cindy Woo Printing.

I’ll probably never stop saying it: Impact over everything. Vision comes first. Always. Try it out for yourself and let me know what you find:

Where could you be more specific about the business you want to build? What does this change about the strategy you’ll take to get there?

Events & Free Stuff

• Strategy Office Hours

  TOMORROW all online community members (that’s you!) are invited to drop in and talk through as many strategy questions as we have time for. We’ll start by talking through vision 👆 to get us started and then open it up from there.

• Sales Boosting Book Club!

  Starting September 19th, I’m teaming up with Brandon from Small Axe Sales to offer an expert led book club on “Go Givers Sell More”. If sales gives you the ick, this is a a great chance to learn and apply a simple value-based framework at an accessible price point.

• Impact Integration Work Sessions

  Designed to help growth minded founders find the sticking points in their growth journey. Free work sessions apply my framework to a deep dive into your vision, strategy, and systems. I have 1 or 2 slots a week for these free, 1.5-2 hr sessions.

This cool thing I found

Resources & products I’ve loved or recommended lately:

• Pantry Check is my latest app store find (android version in progress). It includes grocery and food inventory, expiration reminders, and a barcode scanner. My favorite feature is that as you add items to your grocery list, it forecasts your total grocery bill and then adds it up for you as you cross things off the list.

• Playbook, a file management platform for creatives, is offering $1,000 - $10,000 grants through their Imagine Fund. 50 creatives with the most original and community-impactful ideas will receive up to $10,000 each to bring their ideas to life. Learn more and apply.

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