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Hey there - it's Brian 👋

Choices mean sacrifice.

But most people hate saying what they won’t get by making this choice.

The best decision-makers (who regularly make $1M+ decisions) look these sacrifices straight in the eyes (so nothing surprises them).

So today, we’re uncovering the costs lurking in your decisions.

You’ll think like these $1M+ decision makers by framing the costs so you can confidently look them in the eye and simplify your choices:

Let’s make your business an outlier: 👇

Every month, a client took 2 weeks to run a finance process that used to take 3 hours

TWO weeks! They had to run it every 4 weeks so half the year was spent running this finance process.

Talk about slow to find their results.

How did their process get so bad?

Well they neglected choices. Didn’t talk about trade-offs.

Until it got so bad they called in consultants to fix the dumpster fire.

So I came in to re-invent their operations. Specifically, I was the strategist helping them frame their choices.

We drew their operations today (in a flow chart). Mapped out their dream operations. And helped them see hidden costs (trade-offs) for each step of the vision.

We gave them a bunch of choices for each step and explained the trade-offs.

Here’s one example - they wanted to automate receiving checks.

Automation meant they got time back.

But at what cost?:
• Risk the vendor goes offline, exposes customer data, messes up checks
• Build or buy new tech to fit the vendor data into their ecosystem
• Change of people and processes
etc

So is it worth it?

Nope. They didn’t get that many checks. So after we laid out the costs we decided the time saved (not much) wasn’t worth the downside to automate.

But we re-invented the process it got it down from 2 weeks to 2 days!

Every choice always ask: “but at what cost?”

Let’s use simple examples (because even if it sounds great, it still has a cost).

Want the higher paying job?
Cost: More stress, longer hours

Want to work from exotic places around the world?
Cost: Lose touch with friends/family, losing stability

Want to build an audience?
Cost: Lose privacy

Want a lot of friends who support you?
Cost: Pay the high time commitment to maintain friendships

Agreed?

Now let’s build the full list for your business (I have an easy solution for you).

The hardest part: a complete list of costs (but here’s a simple solution)

So one advantage consultants have, is we see the problem across many businesses. So we’ve seen a lot of mistakes.

We built our list of hidden costs on experiences, frameworks, and calling our networks to get their stories.

But good news for everyone else: ChatGPT.

You can use it to support your brainstorm and not miss anything.

Use this ChatGPT prompt:

“What are 25 examples of the costs associated with [BUSINESS DECISION]?

List the cost, then explain it simply.”

Go through the costs and highlight the top 5 that apply to you (and would be a big cost).

And that’s it!

If you’re going through the costs for a decision you’re making for your business, email them to me and I’ll tell you if you’re missing any (and which are significant).

See you next Thursday 👋

Brian
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P.S. Are you over $3M in revenue? Want help with critical decisions for your business?

I’m here to help.

I spent 6 years as a management consultant at Deloitte. I’ve advised 100+ executives to simplify their most critical decisions.

Decisions include:
• How do I expand my business (new product, geography, customer)?
• What’s the best way to re-position my business?
• How do I create a strategic plan?
+ more

Click here to book a free call and I’ll help you through your challenge

P.P.S. I only have 3 openings left (to give each client the right attention).

🛠️ Outlier Links

1) I went through 61 mental models to shortcut decisions. These 11 are the most unique and useful.

2) I answered FAQs with videos to give an insider look at consulting decisions. Questions: How do I expand? Build or buy? Best strategy books?

3) Operation Barbie Summer spent near $150M on marketing (what they did)

4) Charlie Munger’s biography. Getting to know how he thinks changed my approach towards decision-making (tip: the book is $61, but the kindle version is only $10)

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