Doubling Down
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “go big or go home” before which speaks to the idea that you need to put your effort and concentration into your work to make it successful.
But you have probably also heard to “not put your eggs in one basket” which means you should diversify your investments.
Two contrary ideas and yet they are both somehow correct. The nuance comes in the timing.
For example, I could go big on a wagon wheel company spinning up manufacturing at an industrial scale to make thousands of wheels per day. But if the world-wide demand for wagon wheels is nearly non-existent then going big would mean losing a lot.
Same thing with diversifying. If I have 4 different business ideas and try to start them all at once I’ll work myself to death and never make any meaningful progress.
But what if I start small and add little bits to my business model. I could open my doors with the intention of making commissioned furniture but that doesn’t flow constantly, especially not early on when no one knows you exist. So there’s free time, and in that free time why not try making small things to sell on Etsy.
Slowly as commissions roll in and cash flow increases there’s more money to invest in tools to make bigger furniture and to do it faster. Suddenly it feels like I’m going big, doubling down on what’s working, but only because I put eggs in different baskets to begin with to see what was worth the investment.
It’s not a novel concept. Plenty of businesses start small and expand once they figure out how to do the little things right. McDonald’s was once a single restaurant until they found their secret sauce, which wasn’t actually the sauce but their process efficiency through limiting meal options which simplified the kitchen and made teaching cooks easier hence the ability to franchise and maintain quality. Fast forward and they are one of the largest corporations in the world.
So what.
Why does this matter? Because you can do it too. Your small business will find that thing, the secret sauce. Keep trying and testing to see what works and when it does recognize it. Double down on it. Take that big risk and go all in.
For the last 2 and a half years I have been testing and slowly building what works and at the end of 2023 I finally found it. All year long I have been experimenting making videos and posting them on YouTube. By experiment I mean I spent time figuring out what those videos should be and up until November I wasn’t quite sure until I launched two videos. (Here’s one of them)
These videos I enjoyed and told my wife they won’t do well but months down the road they’ll pick up steam and get a few thousand views, which was good for me.
And I was right that they didn’t do well initially, but I’m not sure they’ll ever pick up steam because these two videos are not as good as I thought they were.
My Mistake
I tried to make the videos not boring by keeping the cut tight which made the videos feel rushed. I tried to connect with the audience by layering in a theme and a lesson which didn’t connect with the project.
But I tried too hard. After taking a step back I realized I didn’t create a connection. I didn’t evoke an emotion. I didn’t tell a story.
So I came up with an idea for a new video. I wrote and rewrote a script until I had it just right. I edited for flow and pacing, leaving room to breath. I played to my strengths and what happened was lightning struck twice. I figured it out.
My secret sauce ready to be bottled.
So while I’ve been playing it safe and putting those eggs in all the baskets I’m now consolidating. This year is my double down year. I’m going all in on my new recipe and pushing it hard because the time is right.