Weddings and Flywheels

Newsletter #13

Takeaway of the week?

That Tuscany is amazing. Especially to get married 😎

Truly an amazing experience! 🌷

And while I was writing my wedding vows, I realised one of the best things about marriage (and my wife in particular!!):

You have someone that always brings out the best in you. Someone that helps you focus on what’s important, and makes sure you keep moving forward.

And now that I’m sitting down to write this newsletter, I realised how most businesses lack this.

I’ve heard a version of this many times while chatting with entrepreneurs:

• “We aren’t really growing but I am always busy”

• “We need to hire more employees but can’t afford it”

• “I never know which opportunities to pursue”

It’s a shame because this lack of direction results in them simply going in circles, rather than ever moving forward.

And that’s a shame because the solution is simple. Not easy, but simple.

We just have to go back to 2001. Back to the presentation of one of the fastest-growing businesses in the world: Amazon.

Because this is where Bezos introduced the “Flywheel Model” for Amazon:

The purpose of this model is to create momentum.

You create momentum by finding the MOST important driver of your business and the processes that enable this.

But the caveat that makes this so impactful is that this isn’t just a process document.

Instead, it’s about finding the processes that feed into each other and with this create a “flywheel” that spins upwards with every cycle.

For Amazon, their key driver is “Customer Experience”.

And they believed that a great Customer Experience would bring in more Traffic, and more Traffic would get more Sellers on the platform, and more Sellers would mean a greater Product Selection, which enhanced the Customer Experience even further!

This gave them a framework to make decisions and be hyper-focused. If something doesn’t make the flywheel spin, it is waste that can be cut.

That’s cool. But what about you?

I am now implementing this with one of my clients and the immediate clarity this provides is pretty astonishing.

I HIGHLY recommend you to think about this within your own business, corporation, team, or even personal life:

Start with one simple question: what is the #1 driver of value for your customer (or boss/stakeholder/etc.)?

Then ask: “What does this lead to?”. Do this until your “flywheel” goes around.

Example: If your customer cares about “Quality”:

1. Focus on “Quality”

2. Which can lead to “Higher Order Value”

3. Use that to do “Capital Reinvestments”

4. Which leads to “Improved Production”

   And that means … Higher quality!

Now with every activity you do in the day, ask yourself: does it feed into my flywheel?

And what about me?

I walk the talk. So I got my own “flywheel”:

My #1 focus is to “overdeliver” for my clients. Which I am convinced will:

1. Lead to good Reviews/Testimonials

2. This let’s me write “interesting content” to grow my Social Media channels

3. And that “fills my funnel" with good clients

4. To which I can then “overdeliver” again

This in itself “flies upwards” as it allows me to increase prices and get more efficient over time.

But growth is limited by my own time. That is why I reinvest my profits in real estate to create additional income streams.

But to really make this spin…

Add Leverage. A lot of Leverage.

There are Four Types of Leverage (according to Naval):

1. Labor

2. Capital

3. Media

4. Code

I added three of them. This is to make sure the flywheel actually goes upwards.

Because if all you do is trade your time for money, then you will always be running in circles.

This applies to any type of business.

Taking the time to think about this is not just a “fun” exercise, it will truly help with decision-making.

And if you want any help just send me a message or book a free call: https://calendly.com/joeydewit/call

Till next week 🌷

Joey