The First Thing You Must Fix
A business owner told me recently that he felt like he was “constantly putting out fires”.
Every week it was something new.
A different marketing idea.
A different tool.
A different “must-try” tactic someone had mentioned on a podcast.
And yet… the same problems kept popping back up.
More chaos.
More stress.
More noise.
He’d changed almost everything in his business except the one thing that actually needed changing.
And that’s the trap.
We tinker with the shiny stuff because it feels productive.
But the real issue — the one underneath — stays exactly where it is.
And until you fix that, nothing really moves.
Most businesses don’t have ten problems.
They have one.
One weak link that quietly affects everything else.
One thing that slows you down, drains time, and creates a mess you end up cleaning week after week.
For some it’s pricing.
For others it’s follow-up.
For many it’s the calendar — or more accurately, the lack of one.
Sometimes it’s simply trying to do all the jobs yourself.
It’s not glamorous.
It’s not exciting.
But it’s the truth.
Fix the first thing… and everything else gets easier.
Here’s a quick way to find it.
Take ten minutes.
Write down the last five problems you’ve dealt with in your business.
Then look for the pattern.
What’s the thread that runs through most of them?
What keeps showing up?
What’s the thing you’ve known about for ages but haven’t tackled because it feels awkward, boring or a bit uncomfortable?
Circle it.
That’s the first thing you fix.
Not the next trend.
Not the next app.
Not the next clever tactic.
Just the thing that keeps coming back.
Once you sort that — truly sort it — you often don’t need anything else.
Clarity returns.
Momentum returns.
And the fires you used to chase… stop appearing.
So here’s the question for you today:
What’s the first thing you need to fix?
