Screw 10X plans. Show me your 90-day fix.

I’m tired of hearing about 10x plans.

You can’t scroll a business feed for a minute without seeing someone still pushing Hustle Bro culture, talking about billion-dollar exits and growth at all costs.

Subconsciously, I probably subscribed to parts of it for a while. 

Watching others get ahead and thinking they did it easier than I did.

Thinking that I ‘should’ have been in a better place by now.

As I pushed even harder to keep up, all that happened was that we went backward faster. 

I eventually had to face the fact that if your systems are broken, all you get is a faster collapse.

The game isn’t “scale at all costs.” It’s fix before you scale.

It sounds logical, but in the thick of it, it’s not that easy to see or hear.

It’s partly why I’ve shifted my emails a little lately to the much less sexy topic of fixing things first. 

Since covid, we’ve seen more wins culturally, operationally, and financially by looking inward instead of outward. 

Ruthlessly fixing products, margins, digital systems, internal processes, and the customer experience.

Maybe it's because it’s so raw for me, or that I have a new level of awareness and appreciation for fixing, but I now see loads of other good businesses who are held back by messy operations, broken systems and a confused story.

They often say things like:

• It’s too competitive
• I can’t find good people
• I can’t put my prices up
• We’re profitable, but I don’t have any cash left over

The thing is, it's easier to fix than you think. 

In our case, we started stacking tiny hidden wins that added up. Just like when you deposit loose change into a savings account until one day you realise it’s a significant chunk of cash.

It doesn't feel like you're winning big until a year down the track when you see that you're in a completely different place.

Here’s a challenge for you:

What are you fixing in the next 90 days that will help you grow later?

If you don’t know, you’re probably just busy, not building.

Here’s how we started approaching 90-day plans.

Get some good people together for a meeting. No fluff. One hour. Post-it notes or a Miro board.

Everyone answers:

1. What’s broken right now?
   
   
2. What’s slowing us down or costing us money?
   
   
3. What are customers complaining about (or not coming back because of)?

Choose 3 high-leverage fixes.

(Don’t pick 10. Pick 3.)

• One operational
• One customer-facing
• One strategic (the thing you keep avoiding)

Then from there you:

1. Define the fix in plain English. I’m talking, make sure it’s clear enough for a 5-year-old.
   
   
2. Assign one owner per fix. Give them the authority and the support. No committees.
   
   
3. Set clear outcomes and metrics. You should know what good looks like before you start.
   
   
4. Make it visible to the others in the group so there’s some accountability.
   
   
5. Review, collaborate and iterate every week like your life depends on it.

You’ll notice that momentum is contagious when people see progress.

When I look at our results, they now seem almost unreal.  

Financially, operationally, and culturally, we’re stronger than we have ever been. 

And that gives me (as the founder) so much confidence to keep building towards a bigger vision. 

I want that confidence for you too. 

The key is to fix before you scale. 

I hope this helps.