Reader,

Today, I'm going to teach you how "Self-Licking Lollies" 🍭 will ruin your business.

I know what you're thinking: What in the 50 Shades Of Grey is that?

Well, simply put:

It's when your actions/data create a self-fulfilling cycle, due to a flawed assumption.

Unfortunately, as founders, we have the illusion of thinking we're smarter than we are.

I was 'certain' I knew what my best-selling products were.

• I had the data.
• I had the reviews.
• I had the feedback.

But I was ignorant to the fact I'd 'created' my best sellers.

The data told me what I wanted to hear because I'd made it that way.

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One day when building a report, my self-doubt crept in and I began to overthink...

"Sh*t... What if I'm wrong?"

(Sometimes overthinking can be useful!)

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So I created a test to see what customers would buy when I didn't influence their journey.

The test proved I was wrong 😬

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A "Self-Licking Lolly" would have made my business unnecessarily harder.

Instead, I HALVED my CPA, saving thousands in the process.

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On that occasion, I was lucky...

But as founders, we do this all this time...

Assume without question ❌

Reminder:

And therein lies the threat to your business!

So ask yourself?

Where you could be creating "Self-Licking Lollies" 🍭 in your business?

These can be incredibly hard to recognise, so I'll give you some more examples:

• Are you too scared to increase your prices or will no one actually care?
• Is your best seller actually your best seller, or have you made it your best seller?
• Are you really solving your customers' problems, or creating things you think they need?
• Is there a task you've convinced yourself is important that if you stopped, wouldn't matter?

Food for thought ey, Reader?

But I'm not going to leave you doubting every decision you've made...

I'm all about making this actionable.

So your task for today...

• When you are solving a problem, describe it to a friend.
• Ask them to recite it back to you... and as they speak...
• Ask yourself 1 question...
• "How do I know that's true?"

I think you'll be surprised 😁

That's all for today. Your one key takeaway:

Clean data is your friend. Assumptions are your enemy.

As always, l hope this is useful.

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Also before I go, one quick thing…

I have 2x more 'Founder Clarity Calls' remaining.

Thank you Alex, Chris, Hugo & Gabe for putting your trust in me 🙏🏽

If you're serious about starting 2024 on the front foot, reply “CLARITY” to this email and I’ll send the details.

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