Will this come back to haunt me later?

In the book “Build”, Nest founder Tony Fadell describes the job of any CEO:

“The job is to care.  About all of it.  All the time.  Don’t worry about which parts of the company need your attention, and which don’t.  They all do.  Ignoring any part of your company always comes back to haunt you later.”

I like to compare the attributes of a successful business with those of a successful long distance runner.  It’s an impactful analogy, because in a 50 mile race, failures to prepare get your attention.  They hurt.  In the form of real, sometimes severe, physical pain.

When I talk with a business owner who says that they are not interested in sales, it makes me think of a runner who ignores a leg injury.  That might be okay for a 10k run, but by mile 20, it is going to start to hurt.  By mile 30 they are walking, and by the end of the race (if they don’t drop out), they will be miserable and will have finished far short of their potential.

Sales and Marketing are the legs that make your business run.  Leadership and vision are the heart and soul of your business.  Products are the core of your business, and processes are the core of your growth strategy.  Overhead is the weight that slows your business down, and cashflow is the fuel that keeps your business going.  If you are a business owner, you need to work on all of them, all the time.  For me, that’s always been difficult.

How do you work on all of these areas at once?  Start with acceptance: it is your job to care.  Then use your calendar to schedule time each week for each area.  Don’t ever skip a week.  Doing so will surely come back to haunt you later.

Whether you want to build a great company or run a great race, it won’t happen with haphazard preparation.  Little by little, step by step, start by caring about every part of it.  With all systems working together, you will achieve an optimum pace and finish strong.