This week was about one thing:
How otherwise smart business owners slowly — and often proudly — destroy the very thing they spent years building.
And the craziest part?
They all think they’re being clever when they do it.
Monday — The Orange Juice Test
At Sophia’s birthday, the venue charged the equivalent of $20 for a litre of orange juice.
Insane?
Maybe.
But the experience?
Exceptional.
Fresh food, real service, play areas that didn’t feel like a crime scene, and parents raving about it.
Meanwhile, their competitors cut costs by serving frozen mystery nuggets and calling it “value.”
Lesson:
Cutting corners doesn’t save you money — it saves your competitors the trouble of outperforming you.
Premium experience → premium margins → premium customers.
A formula most owners ignore until it’s too late.
Tuesday — The Bird That Made the Point
A bird shat on my head during a meeting.
Funny? Yes.
Annoying? Definitely.
But it drove home something deadly serious:
If random life events can wipe you out, your business isn’t a business — it’s a dependency.
One friend had his spouse leave him with four kids… overnight.
He vanished from his company for almost a year.
But his business was structured to grow without him.
Most owners?
If they disappear for 24 hours, the entire operation catches fire.
Lesson:
Indispensability isn’t strength.
It’s a trap that can destroy everything you built when you most need it to be valuable.
Wednesday — Death by Copying “Best Practices”
Greek restaurants used to give complimentary fruit after meals.
A tiny cost.
A massive differentiator.
A tradition that made people feel like family.
Then they copied the American PE playbook:
“Why give fruit when you can charge €12 for dessert?”
They saved €1 per table.
And lost the soul of their business.
Now tourism is booming…
but their tables sit empty.
What an overpriced consultant considers “inefficient” can often be the moat that helps you stand out.
Kill it, and you join the army of forgettable imitations.
Thursday — The Terminator with in the Powerpoint slies
Elite financial firms are replacing their white-glove human service with robotic, soulless processes.
Terminators wiping out Sarah Connors…
They see themselves as saving millions.
But setting themselves up to push billions out the door.
If you ignore or don’t know how to measure what’s really important …
Your clients will flee…
And you will end up Optimising your own self strangulation.
So what’s the pattern?
Every single business this week believed they were being:
- Consistent
- Efficient
- Strategic
- “Smart”
But what they were actually doing was dismantling themselves — one tiny “logical” decision at a time.
Beware the Optimisation Cliff:
- You cut what feels small.
- You follow someone else’s rules.
- You copy the market leader.
- You shave pennies.
And then one day you wake up and realise…
You optimised away the very reason people chose you.
Instead of killing excess costs.
You end up killing what made you different.
So before you make that next “strategic” tweak, ask:
Am I improving the customer experience…or writing my business’s obituary?
Because many owners don’t die from outside competition.
They die from self-inflicted “smart” decisions made on autopilot.
Don’t be one of them.
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P.S. I’m not the “systems,” “finance,” or “fix your processes” guy.
I help you fall in love with your business again—Because it finally gives you the life you want today
While setting you up to exit on your terms tomorrow.
Join my list for blunt insights and practical strategies to build a business that gives you your life back – and the power to walk away, when you’re ready, on your terms