Risky Business

The Pareto Principle states that 80% of results come from 20% of inputs

When you’ve run your business for a number of years, you’ll notice that just a handful of decisions contribute the majority of the value in your business

Those decisions will normally also be the bigger risks you’ve ended up taking

If you’re looking to grow by 1-2% per year? Then you don’t need to (and probably shouldn’t) take risks

I can’t speak for you, but that isn’t the business I want.

High growth companies are compelled to take high risks because you’re not going to deliver high growth without taking some big risky bets.

So you need an internal ‘culture’ of high risk tolerance

There are several examples in business where successful decisions tested poorly, but went on to become highly successful

Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte scored low in consumer research testing, and now makes $500 million per year in around 3 months

Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ campaign challenged decades of beauty industry norms

Harry Potter was rejected by 12 publishers

Shark Tank rejected Ring doorbells, they were sold for over $1 billion to Amazon

Risking, testing, executing and failing are integral to a high growth business

And who doesn’t want one of those?