A chat with a retired guy at the coffee shop changed how I see my business plan

I was working on my financial model at a spot in Austin last week, clearly looking stressed. This older man at the next table slid over a napkin with a simple chart drawn on it. He said, 'I ran a machine shop for 30 years. Your plan shows revenue going up in a straight line. Mine never did. It went up in steps, flat for a bit, then a jump.' He pointed at my laptop. 'You're planning for the line. You should be planning for the steps. The flat parts are where you build the team and tools for the next jump.' It was such a simple, real world view I'd never considered from all the startup advice online. Has anyone else had a veteran business owner give them a piece of advice that flipped a basic assumption?

3 comments

3 Comments

torres.thea19d ago

Had a customer tell me to stop chasing every sale and just focus on the regulars. It sounds obvious now, but I was trying to please everyone at first.

nancyn6918d ago

Used to chase every lead too until @torres.thea made me see the value in regulars.

jamie94018d ago

My first year I spent 80% of my time on new leads that never panned out. Now I have about ten regular clients who bring in most of my income. I check in with them every few weeks and they keep coming back. It freed up so much time and stress.