Do you like the thrill of big numbers? What does a lot of followers actually mean? Is a hundred likes worth something in terms of an audience? There’s certainly a crowd mindset around the euphoria of trying to be popular. I guess not much has changed from high school.
However, what if you were able to be more strategic? What if you thought small in such terms as:
- What’s the one message that truly sticks?
- How many customers did I have last year? What if you only approached people like them this year?
- How small of a space, if any, do you need?
- What if you had no software, only services?
- What if you participated in only one social network and made it the best?
I look at many of today’s businesses like malnourished people. They may be taking in a lot of calories, but they are empty.
Strategic businesses, on the other hand, are on a more nourishing diet. The calories count for vitality.
It is possible. It takes thinking and courage. Thinking in the sense of asking the right questions of yourself. Courage with regards to ignoring everyone who simply throws paint at a wall hoping for a picture to emerge.
Think small numbers. How about less friends but higher quality? Have a 90% close rate instead of spending time with completely disinterested leads.
Your resources would be put to better use. You could also be building something efficient and without waste.
You can apply this thinking to sales, marketing, operations, customer service and entrepreneurship. We have vestiges of the old economy that still linger in our thinking. We think mass is good. Today, it is a liability. Changing quickly and being efficient with less helps you to focus on the right things as the world changes.
Where can you apply small thinking for bigger results?