Starting a business, expanding an established company or even pursuing a single customer costs your business time and money. So, agile business founders, whose companies are based on speed an efficiency, must constantly view every move their businesses make through the lens of return on investment.
With each opportunity, you, as the agile business leader, should assess the investment costs and risks in light of the forecasted revenue. The agile business methodology is based on taking a disciplined approach to determining when to spend money and time, but that doesn’t mean that you can afford not to spend them. It just means that you should properly evaluate whether the costs could be worth the potential rewards, and then go after those opportunities where the numbers look like they will work out in your favor.
In my agile business, we continually remind each other of the following mantra:
“Is the juice worth the squeeze?”
Or, in other words, will this business/new line of business/customer be worth the time, money, effort and risk it will take to pursue? If not, we move on, looking for those opportunities that will.
Try this mantra for a couple of days, and let me know how it works for you.
3 Responses to "Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze?"
Excellent advice, Kyle! When starting a business, sometimes the “ready, fire, aim” is great, but once you’ve got that business going, then taking some time to analyze the best plan of action that should always follow your vision and goals is essential. I believe your vision and goals should be the compass that keeps you on track, and that will help you decide what direction is best for your business as new avenues open up.
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Fantastic points, Victoria. Vision, focus and action in line with the vision are essential for growth and success. Thanks!
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F.E.P. still applies before a venture and every day during the venture:
“Is it Fun? Is it Easy? Is it Profitable???”
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