Donald Miller

What are the three ways that we make the most money? Most businesses somewhere fall in line in that Pareto principle of 80% of their money comes from 20% of their products. 80% of the money comes from 20% of their audience. It's almost true for every business out there. Those 20% can usually be defined with three economic objectives.

Now, I only give you three not because you only have three or because I only want you to have three. I give you three because the human brain has a limitation, and it's usually three priorities. It's very hard for a brain to prioritize more than three things. It can do four. It cannot do five.

Now, I only give you three, not because you only have three or because I only want you to have three. I give you three because the human brain has a limitation and it's usually three priorities. It's very hard for a brain to prioritize more than three things. It can do four. It cannot do five.

So three is very important, not because any other reason other than your brain's just not going to focus on any more than three things. So you want to figure out what are the top three ways you make money. Then you want to have numeric goals. So when I say we will accomplish, here's our actual mission statement at Business Made Simple.

We will have 500 certified coaches, 900 certified marketing guides, and 18,000 people inside of our online platform. That's it. by January 1 of 2024 because every small business owner deserves an education in growing their business. So here's what's really cool about the three economic objectives.

We will have 500 certified coaches, 900 certified marketing guides, and 18,000 people inside of our online platform. That's it. By January 1 of 2024, because every small business owner deserves an education in growing their business. So here's what's really cool about the three economic objectives.

The second we stated and wrote in our mission statement, the three economic objectives, we had a filter. It was the next day we were in a meeting, and we were about five minutes into talking about an initiative when somebody raised their hand and said, hey, guys, this doesn't have anything to do with our three economic objectives. Do we still want to do it?

And everybody in the room just went, actually, no, we're wasting our time. Because those are the three ways that we make the most money. We're talking about something that's actually not going to make us much money at all. We just had a customer bring it up, and we're trying to answer the customer question.

We need to just answer the customer's question saying, actually, we've decided not to do that. So you get a filter. That alone will cause a massive sort of forward thrust in your organization because now everybody in the organization is trying to support three things. Then the why, we will accomplish X by Y because of Z. The why is actually your deadline. I recommend setting a two-year deadline.

And everybody in the room just went, actually, no, we're wasting our time. Because those are the three ways that we make the most money. We're talking about something that's actually not going to make us much money at all. We just had a customer bring it up, and we're trying to answer the customer question.

We need to just answer the customer's question saying, actually, we've decided not to do that. So you get a filter. That alone will cause a massive sort of forward thrust in your organization because now everybody in the organization is trying to support three things. Then the why, we will accomplish X by Y because of Z. The why is actually your deadline. I recommend setting a two-year deadline.

You can go three years. Anything beyond three years is not going to motivate anybody. So we set our goal over a year ago, and now we're about, what, 10 months away from hitting it, and we're on track to hit it. So what a deadline does inside of a mission statement creates a sense of urgency. You say, Don, mission statements don't have deadlines. You know, you're right.

You can go three years. Anything beyond three years is not going to motivate anybody. So we set our goal. over a year ago, and now we're about, what, 10 months away from hitting it, and we're on track to hit it. So what a deadline does inside of a mission statement creates a sense of urgency. You say, Don, mission statements don't have deadlines. You know, you're right.

Most large corporations don't put deadlines in mission statements because those corporations have mission statements written by lawyers on behalf of shareholders. You don't have a team of lawyers and you don't have shareholders. You have the luxury, and it is a crazy luxury that you should take advantage of, of writing a new mission statement every two or three years.

And usually in your mission statement, all you're going to do is adjust X and Y, and that's really it. If you don't like it as a mission statement, just call it a goal statement and let these two statements be parallel to each other. Finally, the Z. We will accomplish X by Y because of Z. Z is the Y. It's the reason that you're in business. And it's usually customer-centric. We are doing this.

And usually in your mission statement, all you're going to do is adjust X and Y, and that's really it. If you don't like it as a mission statement, just call it a goal statement and let these two statements be parallel to each other. Finally, the Z. We will accomplish X by Y because of Z. Z is the why. It's the reason that you're in business. And it's usually customer-centric. We are doing this.

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