How Incremental Growth Sabotages Your Big Idea

On an episode of The Apprentice I learned a valuable lesson in business growth strategies. Donald Trump had given the teams an exercise to sell as much bottled water as possible in downtown New York City. Each of the teams devised a plan they deemed worthy of winning. (If you’ve never watched the show here’s the basic premise: solve a business problem by competing against other successful business people.)

One team focused on selling water bottles to the local tourists and construction workers. The other team focused on selling cases of water to local business owners and restaurants. Which one do you think won?

The team focused on selling cases. Why? Because they moved product in bulk which required less work and generated ten times as much profit.

Every day entrepreneurs sabotage their big dreams of success because they are focused on incremental steps such as:

- Serving one client at a time
- Trying to fill programs with just your community
- Limiting growth doing everything yourself
- Playing too small with the wrong business model
- Focusing only on the step in front of you

Incremental focus is usually a result of a limited mindset – we don’t realize what else is possible. Either we’ve never been exposed to exponential growth possibilities or we are making decisions from fear.

Both are a set up to make us feel like we are crawling towards our goal rather than leaping forward. After a while we get exhausted and stop believing it can happen.

Let’s put some life back in that big idea.

Here are four ways to Re-Energize Your Big Idea to Leap:

1. Infuse new ideas into your stale thinking. I’m not suggesting you copy or emulate anyone else. Just stimulate your mind for new possibilities. Try reading Walt Disney’s Imagineering Way or Richard Branson’s Business Stripped Bare.

2. Discover new models for expansion. Go beyond delivering a traditional workshop and think big. Consider licensing your work or certifying others to deliver your programs.

3. Design your Dream Team. Explore what kind of support you deeply desire to pull off the big idea. What role would they play? What tasks would you hand off? Having the right support can position you to grow exponentially.

4. Involve yourself with other big thinkers. Join a mastermind or attend an event designed to challenge your status quo (I don’t mean another pitch fest – find a mastermind retreat like Re-Energize Your Business.)

The bigger the idea the better. Shifting gears away from small, incremental steps causes your brain to solve the challenge from a new direction. If done properly, a big idea will energize and inspire you.