Thread by @JamesClear

How I run my business

2020 was my 10th year as an entrepreneur. Here are some "rules" I try to follow after a decade of stumbling around building my company.

(Not rules for all businesses. Just how I choose to run mine.)

A thread 👇👇👇

Create something useful.

If it doesn't deliver value to the reader, don't do it.

Create something timeless.

The more evergreen your work, the longer timeline you have to find success.

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.

Build assets that compound.

Eliminate problems, responsibilities, and obligations that compound.

Your business should feel easier to sustain each year.

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.

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?"

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.

Continually ask, "What is the highest leverage thing we can do right now?"

Then, spend at least two minutes today working on that thing.

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.

Own your distribution.

(In my case, my website and email list.)

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.

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.

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.

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.

Share the profit with employees.

Get the incentives aligned. Everyone should get a slice of the upside.

When the business wins, we all win.

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.

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.

Continually reach out to people who do the kind of work you aspire to do.

Build friendships with exceptional people.

Reinvent yourself.

Time erodes every advantage.

Evolve or die.