Principle #2: Every Business has a Bias
TLDR:
Every business unintentionally favours one of three areas (what it sells, who it sells to, or how it makes money) and neglects at least one of the others, usually without the owner noticing.
The neglected area rarely announces itself directly. It shows up disguised as something else, like slow growth being blamed on customers when the real issue is the product, or cash pressure being blamed on the market when the real issue is how the business handles its own numbers.
The fastest and easiest path to growth is usually not doing more of what you're already good at. It's fixing the area you've been quietly under-investing in.
Most owners can name their strength in under a minute. Almost none can name their bias without help.
If you have a superpower, then you’ll have a kryptonite.
No business treats Product, Customer, and Finance equally. Not on purpose, not because anyone decided to. Every owner has a natural pull toward one of the three, whatever they find most interesting, or what’s most urgent, or what they are more experienced with, skilled at or more confident with… or just came easiest when the business started.
Over time that bias compounds. The area you're drawn to gets the attention, the time, the meetings, the budget. A second area gets enough to get by. And the third quietly slips. Slippage comes from focusing on the strength, not because of purposeful neglect.
The neglected area rarely announces itself. A weak product shows up as declining growth or increased discounting. This can appear like a customer problem. A weak finance focus shows up as cash pressure, which everyone blames on the market. By the time the bias is obvious, it's usually already cost the business.
Most owners can name their strength. Almost none name or recognise their bias.
A product bias business keeps similar customers, but they tweak the offering. They consistantly innovate. They streamline their operation, over and over again. It is a well run product operating machine. The product suite is mature, refined, best in class. Go into a down cycle, or want to initiate growth? The answer is always in the product.
A customer bias business finds the next 5 customers and can do it with relative ease. They tweak their offerings, their sales promotions, their advertising, their marketing activity. Incentive offers, sales deals, switching packages. Go into a down cycle or want to initiate growth? Sell more, deeper or to new customers.
A finance bias business tweaks the P&L, removes cost, adds margin, plays with price. They know their numbers more than anything else. Down cycle or growth initaition - they know it can come from a tweak in numbers.
Want examples? Well these are obvious for SME’s. You should know which one you are. But looking at bigger customers?
Apple is a product business. They have their base and the numbers are solid - they want to grow or spin they launch their next product or offer something new.
AWS is a customer business. They have solid products and financial fundamentals, sure. But when they want to grow they double down on customer acquisition.
Any major bank is an obvious Finance business. The products are commodities, the same as any other bank and customers just see a different primary colour. They make changes on growth or down cycles with pricing, changing cost bases and adjusting risk formulas.
Ask yourself - What’s your bias?
Now, why is this important? If your superpower is your strength, shouldn’t you lean in?
Yes, totally. Know the strength and drive that growth. However over time you may feel diminishing returns as the effort to grow starts getting marginal benefit as you go further in that direction.
The areas that have been unintentionally neglected however are low hanging fruit areas.
It’s like driving a F1 car on road tyres. The engine and aerodynamics are world class but if they can’t grip the road you aren’t going to live up to the potential of those strengths.
Know your bias. Find the neglected area and give that focus. Ask someone who knows that area what they would do.
You’ll be surprised by how quickly you grow.
FAQs
Why does my business keep growing slower in one area no matter how hard I work on it?
It's usually not that area's fault. Most businesses unintentionally over-invest in the part they're naturally drawn to (what they sell, who they sell to, or their numbers) and under-invest in one of the other two without realising it. The slow area is often a symptom of neglect somewhere else, not a problem in itself.
How do I find out what my business is neglecting if it's not obvious?
Start by naming your strength, most owners can do that in under a minute. Then ask what gets the least attention, the fewest meetings, and the smallest budget. That's usually the neglected area. It rarely looks like what it is. A weak product can look like a customer problem, and a weak grip on your numbers can look like a tough market.
Should I keep investing in what I'm already good at, or fix my weak spot instead?
Both, but expect different returns. Doubling down on your existing strength will keep working, but usually with diminishing returns over time. Fixing the neglected area tends to be the faster, easier win, because it's had the least attention and is the lowest hanging fruit in the business.
Is this the same for big companies as it is for small businesses?
Yes, the pattern holds at any size. A company like Apple leans on product to grow, a company like AWS leans on customer acquisition, and a major bank leans on pricing and numbers. The bias just becomes harder to see as a business gets more sophisticated at the thing it's already good at.
