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Key Takeaways Fixing the wrong bottleneck wastes time; meaningful growth starts by finding the true constraint.
Repeatedly ask “why” until assumptions break and the real limitation reveals itself.
Growth requires working on the business, not just staying busy inside it.
Small businesses face countless bottlenecks. The challenge is knowing which one to fix first.
I see business owners spend months tweaking the wrong variable while the real problem sits elsewhere, untouched. They change their marketing three times with minimal results, yet still conclude they need better marketing. Meanwhile, the actual bottleneck — maybe a painful signup process or a fundamental product issue — continues limiting their growth.
Start with a process
You can’t just say “there’s a bottleneck in my business” and expect useful answers. Here’s how this plays out in practice.
Take a typical scenario: five people each spend 10 hours on a project — 50 total hours over seven days. You’re charging $1,000. When you calculate costs — salaries plus overhead — you’re making only a $50 profit.
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