The 80/20 Rule in Business
TL;DR
Through a year of decluttering and simplifying my business I have discovered that the 80/20 rule applies here too. In this article I’m sharing the 20% I choose to focus on, what I let go of, and why having the space that I set out to create is a lot scarier than I expected.
Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
This year I have been on a massive decluttering mission.
It started with decluttering my kitchen then my wardrobe then the kids toys....and on it went.
Until inevitably it reached my business.
I organised my diary, my digital storage and took a long look at how I was spending my time.
Whereas before my intent coming into 2025 was to add more, instead I decided to focus on less.
Which as it turns out has been unexpectedly transformative.
Because the thing is, having space - both physical and mental space - is scary for me.
I am at my most comfortable when I am verging on overwhelm.
I like the feeling that life is busy and I'm able to hold it all together.
When instead I slow down and deliberately choose how to spend my time it can feel uncomfortable and all the more committing.
There's not so much room for procrastination or avoiding things because 'I just didn't get round to it'.
Focussing in on doing fewer things really well is hard, but I really believe that for me it's the key to building expertise.
The thing about continually moving from one thing to the next is that it gives me plenty of spaces to hide.
Not in a super deliberate way.
But because I genuinely don't have time to squeeze everything in, I can ignore the things that feel uncomfortable or hard.
But when I only have three things on my to-do and more than enough time to do them then there is no hiding place!
What it's helped me do is get really honest with myself about what's working and what's not.
One of the things I did was a stocktake of how I was marketing my business.
Since I first started out I have tried more or less every channel going.
Some have worked, some have not.
Some have lasted, some have not.
The one thing I have stayed (mostly) consistent at is writing blog articles and sending newsletters.
I really enjoy it and I get good feedback that it helps the people who read it.
But I still feel the pull to be in all of the other places.
Which then detracts from the one place that I want to be really good.
Because in the days that writing feels hard or sticky, or I don't have the full amount of time to write the blog article I really want to write, there's always something else to drag me away.
But then when that happens several weeks in a row, suddenly I'm out of the habit of writing and it's SO much harder to start again.
What is the 80/20 rule in business?
The Pareto Principle, so named after the Italian Economist who introduced it, is the idea that for a given scenario, 80% of the results are produced by 20% of the efforts.
How do you find your 20%?
Especially in the early days of business, attempting to find your 20% is really hard because you probably don't have a lot of data to go on.
It's hard to tell what's the most effective when there's no clear front runner.
But over time, things to pay attention to are:
What marketing channel do you (mostly) always stay consistent with?
Which of your products or services feels like the easiest to enroll people into?
Which of your products or services feels easy to deliver?
What do clients/customers feedback as being a highlight of working with you?
What comes naturally to you that feels hard for others?
Where do you see the best financial return for your time investment?
What energises you vs. what drains you?
What would you keep doing even if you stripped everything else away?
Even better is if you can measure these things and put numbers to them. One really simple way to start is by doing an inventory of all of your marketing channels. Look honestly at how much time you are putting in each week then how many real conversations you started from each over the last year.
How do you actually focus on your 20%
Once you identify your 20% figure out how much time each week you need to do these things well. Be realistic. As humans we have an almost irresistible urge to underestimate the amount of time it takes us to do a single task. Give it your best guess now, but then actually measure it and increase the time block if you need to.
Then it’s time to turn to your calendar.
Look at an ideal week and slot your core 20% activities in there.
Then list out your core activities. Mine looks like this:
Write a blog article
Write and send two newsletters
Outreach to colleagues and my community
New client onboarding
Client calls
Client support
At this point you will probably be surprised by just how much of your calendar is taken up.
What are the things left over?
Do they really need to be done? Can you add in a system that makes them easier to handle? Can they be ditched or delegated?
What if I pick the wrong 20%?
This doesn’t have to be forever. You can frame it as taking a break from some things rather than ditching them completely forever. The other thing is that this is best done when you have some experience to go off.
If you are still in the stage of your business where you’re experimenting and figuring out what works then you might want to give yourself a bit more time to gather the information you need.
What do I do with the FOMO?
If you’re like me then you’ll also be hit by these waves of fomo and friends or colleagues who you feel that you’ve lost touch with. Doing this doesn’t mean that you can’t dip into Insta gram every so often to say hi. It’s just that you no longer see it as a core business activity that you expect to see results from.
In Summary
Life these days is full in so many ways. It feels more important to me than ever before to have space. Not just in my business but also in my personal life and as a global citizen. When we don’t build in space - both physical and mental space - things quickly get overhwhelming and it’s hard to live a life and build a business aligned with your values when overwhelm comes knocking.
If you want to take this further and have a full review of what’s working and what’s not in your business then book a Strategic Audit where we can get everything mapped out and figure out what can stay and what needs to go. Think of it as your Autumn business declutter and move towards more simplification and ease in your business.