What’s On My Mind
I should have avoided almost every big mistake I’ve ever made, but it was before I thought of the frameworks in this article.
I’m excited to write a few articles with the end of the year in mind.
This first one isn’t what you’d normally expect.
We’re focusing on de-risking.
Why is that important?
BD is a project—one that never ends.
If you do it right, you’re always trying new things, ever-improving.
While trying new things will bring you monstrous leaps forward, it will also mean failures.
Risk.
De-risking is a process that gives you the best of both worlds.
You keep the upside potential and you lower the downside.
How do you de-risk your BD efforts?
I’ll show you how below…
What We Just Created
This is a special time of year.
One of reflection and celebration.
It is also one of strategy and planning.
We decided to take a quick break from the Rainmakers I’m interviewing on Season 3 on the podcast and do something different.
I went back into our 200+ episodes and found the four that you could use the most this time of year.
The four you could use the most right now.
I even recorded new openers for them for 2021 context.
The first one is SO GOOD.
Michael Hyatt and I talked through his frameworks for creating a vision.
It was the perfect start.
If you listened to this one before, great! Now’s the time to dig in again.
Miss this one? Great! You won’t want to miss it.
My favorite part is Michael’s model to say no to things. It’s worth the listen just for that.
This episode is so great this time of year.
And next week’s will pair perfectly with it!
What’s Worth Lingering On
Back to de-risking.
I have a phrase I like to use that sums up how to de-risk.
Backwards in 10s, forwards in 1000s.
I wish I had thought of this earlier in my life. I could have avoided nearly all the big mistakes I’ve made!
The idea is this: we human beings get really excited about something. Especially in business, we want to go all in.
Right now.
But that’s risky.
Instead of going all in with what you’re most excited about, test it first. Start small and make sure your assumptions are right. Measure your results.
Then if you make a mistake, it’s no big deal. You failed small.
Backwards in 10s.
But…
Let’s say your test was successful. If so, go all in.
Forwards in 1000s.
Here are some practical examples.
Have you’ve met with someone, and you both want to share some referrals—potential introductions for each other?
Great! Start with one each.
Want to start speaking at virtual conferences to meet new people?
Great! Start with a small one to fine-tune your approach.
Want to start a client-centric planning and execution process at your firm?
Great! Start with one client.
It’s easy to get excited about an idea and go all in.
The problem is that anyone doing something for the first time is going to make mistakes.
All of us.
So, the fastest path to success is to actually start small. Keep the stakes low. Fine tune that process. Keep making improvements.
Then launch with gusto.
If your test fails? Great news. You failed small.
If your test succeeds? Even better news. Double down.
Backwards in 10s, Forwards in 1000s.
Mo
ps. If you actually DID like those three practical examples above, check out The Snowball System for what you need to succeed. Chapter 6 shares the steps needed to succeed with referrals and speaking. And Chapter 9 and 10 have some amazing content around setting up that first successful client team. Enjoy!