Easier Ways to Run It

Formulas#

• Operating load = moving parts × how often each breaks × how urgent each break is.
• An easy business has few moving parts, a slow clock and mistakes you can undo.
• Clock speed = how fast the business needs a reply from you. A business that can wait a day is easier than one that needs an answer in minutes.
• Fixed costs are a promise you have to keep every month. Variable costs only show up when revenue does.

The shape of the business (1–12)#

1. Async > real-time. Nobody needs you at 3am.
2. A slow clock (reply within a day) > a fast clock (reply within minutes).
3. Downtime is annoying > downtime is a disaster.
4. Many small self-serve customers, or a few big ones > the middle ground of many customers who need hand-holding at a low price.
5. Self-serve > sales-led.
6. Recurring revenue > revenue that depends on launches.
7. Predictable revenue > lumpy project revenue.
8. Low fixed costs > high fixed costs.
9. Costs that grow with revenue > fixed commitments.
10. Async support across time zones > live help promised in every time zone.
11. One main product > a portfolio to maintain all at once.
12. Mistakes you can reverse > actions you can't undo.

Tools and systems (13–26)#

13. Managed services > self-hosting.
14. A payment provider that handles tax > doing tax yourself.
15. A few tools you know well > many tools.
16. Popular tools with big communities > niche tools with no help.
17. Everything written down > knowledge that lives only in your head.
18. Checklists > memory.
19. Automating after 3 repeats > automating up front.
20. Monitoring that alerts you > customers who alert you.
21. Scheduled maintenance > firefighting.
22. Automatic, tested backups > manual ones.
23. Records in plain text > data locked inside a tool.
24. One inbox > many channels (email, chat, DMs, calls).
25. Templates for recurring content > a blank page every time.
26. AI agents with narrow jobs and human review > one agent doing everything, unchecked.

Customers (27–38)#

27. Published policies > deciding case by case.
28. Docs answer first > you answer every time.
29. Email support > live chat and phone.
30. Refunding quickly > arguing.
31. One standard product > custom work for each customer.
32. Annual plans > monthly. You get fewer billing events and less churn admin.
33. Customers can cancel, upgrade and download invoices themselves > they email you.
34. Letting bad-fit customers go > keeping everyone.
35. A community that helps itself > the founder answering everything.
36. A changelog and a status page > answering "is it down?" one message at a time.
37. Saying no once, publicly (a not-doing list) > saying no again and again in DMs.
38. Promising less and delivering more > overpromising.

The founder's week (39–50)#

39. A fixed weekly rhythm (Monday build, Tuesday market, …) > deciding every morning.
40. Batching similar work > constant context switching.
41. One priority per week > many.
42. Deep work in the morning, admin in the afternoon > everything mixed together.
43. A 15-minute weekly look at the numbers > checking dashboards all day.
44. Planning quarterly > constant replanning.
45. Contractors for busy periods > employees at the start.
46. Writing the procedure, then hiring > hiring, then writing the procedure.
47. No by default > negotiating every request.
48. Two weeks off built into the system > a business you can't leave.
49. Killing one side project a year > letting them pile up.
50. Monthly bookkeeping > a year-end panic.