The Boring Stuff I Do During Downtimes Are What Makes Things Work

When the business hit its usual seasonal trough, the people who’d acquired it lost their nerve. I didn’t. Not because I’m calm by temperament. Going through quieter sales / rougher times…is still rough on my soul lol. But it’s precisely because I’d seen this exact dip before, every year, and I knew what it was. … Read more

Customers Will Always Know

A cafe near my kids’ previous pre-school used to be our weekday breakfast spot — $8 to $10 every morning, then we’d drop the kids off next door in school. One Monday I peeled a chicken wing for my kid and realised it was Friday’s. Re-fried, dried out, sitting in oil that had been recycled … Read more

$1,700 to $4,800: The First Bet I Made on Myself

In 2007 I was 25 — broke, about $5,000 deep in credit card debt, and walking down a hospital corridor I’d walked a thousand times before. Somewhere along that corridor, something landed on me. Not a voice. More like a picture: if I kept doing exactly what I was doing, nothing was going to change. … Read more

The Most Expensive Mistake I Made as an Operator

Outwork the competition. Outlast them. Out-grind everyone in the room. …was trying harder. You’ve heard it. I didn’t just hear it — I built my early years on it. When I was younger, I was certain that breakthroughs were a function of force. Work harder. Pray more. Push, and push, and push again. Out-hustle every … Read more

Finish or Let Go

(Previously named The Battle To Finish) There are two ways to never finish — and they look like opposites. Everyone celebrates the start. You announce the business and people cheer. You launch the thing, open the tab, pitch the idea, plant the flag. Starting feels like progress, and it photographs well. Almost nobody throws a … Read more