When facing a do-or-die situation like running out of funding, resist the urge to find novel solutions. Instead, identify your highest-probability acquisition channel (e.g., grant applications) and apply an unreasonable amount of volume to it to guarantee success through sheer effort.
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Instead of seeking new, unproven strategies, businesses should focus on massively scaling activities that already work. This approach leverages a known variable, minimizing the risk of failure associated with change and offering the most predictable path to growth.
When a business is struggling with multiple revenue streams, the best strategy is to simplify. By cutting underperforming or noisy channels, you can amplify your focus on the one or two profitable areas. This distillation creates the clarity needed to stabilize and eventually rebuild the business.
The highest risk-adjusted return comes from amplifying what already works. The likelihood of a new marketing channel or sales script succeeding is statistically low. Instead of rolling the dice on something new, you should allocate resources to dramatically increase the volume of your proven winners.
Don't try to fix everything at once. Inspired by the Theory of Constraints, identify the single biggest bottleneck in your revenue engine and dedicate 80% of your energy to solving it each quarter. Once unblocked, the system will reveal a new constraint to tackle next, creating a sustainable rhythm.
Instead of striving for the perfect strategy from the start, commit to massive, imperfect action. The inherent pain and inefficiency of doing high volume with low output will naturally force you to learn, adapt, and optimize your process much faster than theoretical planning.
The "SCALE and Credo" framework forces radical focus. Instead of diversifying, entrepreneurs should stick to a single target customer, offer, sales method, and marketing channel for a full year to build momentum and break through the initial revenue ceiling.
When you identify your business's primary bottleneck, don't take incremental steps. The most effective approach is to overwhelm the problem by simultaneously reading books, watching videos, hiring coaches, and taking massive, relentless action until that constraint is completely resolved and a new one emerges.
The garbage collection business was spread thin across five acquisition channels with two different customer avatars. The advice is to cut everything except door-to-door sales—the one channel that is proven, scalable with commission-only reps, and has straightforward unit economics. This singular focus reduces complexity and accelerates the path to profitability.