The 80/20 rule is a crucial rule to follow to run any business. Here are some examples:
– 20% of your clients typically bring in 80% of your revenue. Go out of your way to delight them, while still keeping an eye out for any clients in the remaining 80% who could, with proper nurturing, move into the top 20%. Gracefully “fire” the bottom of the 80% of clients bringing in miniscule income over time, or who are really tough customers.
– 20% of your efforts creating sites get your clients 80% of the impact. Focus your project management on getting that 80% of impact early.
– 20% of your referral sources bring in 80% of your referrals. See the first point.
– 20% of your marketing dollars bring in 80% of your revenues. Build on what works. Stop doing what doesn’t.
– 20% of your employees get 80% of results. Remove the 80% who get 20% of the results, and keep looking for new people who can make it to the top 20%.
– 20% of your tasks in a given day get you 80% of the value of your time. I like to never have more than 3 tasks or priorities on my list at a time.
There have been in recent years a couple of books about this 80/20 principle, but you really don’t need them. Just make sure you are getting maximum impact out of everything you do.
Andrew Neitlich
