People spend years looking for a shortcut
– Sahil Lavingia
Focusing on growth and achieving big results in a short period of time is the natural state for most entrepreneurs; it’s the goal that they pursue. However, time moves fast, and the power of accumulation also applies to business strategy and development.
Something that I have struggled with, but am starting to realise and learn, is that you have to force yourself to move slowly in order to move even faster later on.
Slowing down and focusing on long-term scalability and operational excellence will hurt. You will feel pain when you move slowly – it is not who you are. Six months spent slowing down and building for the future can seem like an eternity. However, it is all relative. History shows that it often takes 10, 15, or even 20 years to build a large enterprise, and when viewed in that light, six months suddenly do not seem too bad. If you accept this principle, you can utilise it and win. This slow period will open up to a new kind of speed later on, and it will all be worth it.
The current Covid-19 crisis has opened up a vacuum of time in which moving slowly and building for the future can, in fact, be the ideal decision for many, even though everyone is always preaching speed, innovation, pivoting, etc. Don’t be too tempted to do a quick rollout of new ideas with short-term effects. If you are in a position to do so, then consider slowing down, thinking carefully, and building for the future – and then kick in with the fast growth later on.
At TrueStory, we currently spend 75%+ of our energy, money, and effort on projects that make us move slowly for the time being, but will allow us to expand like crazy in 6-12 months. What this really means is that we exhibit 30-50% YoY growth instead of 100%+, and that is fine because we are in it for the long haul.
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