I grew up in a very complex culture where you have to be super creative which on the other hand even leads to more complexity. At the end of the day you are overwhelmed with so much ideas and things to do that you end up not actually taking one single action. This is a no go if you want to be successful in your business or daily life. Then i stumbled upon an article on how simplicity is the secret to being successful and this is what i am sharing with you in this blog. The problem about complex ideas and activities is that it distracts us from focusing on our primary mission and purpose. A healthier way to bring about business growth is by mastering simplicity. But how?
- Step 1 > Redefine your goal.
- Step 2 > Stay loyal and focused to that goal.
- Step 3 > Eliminate processes and todos that takes you away from your goals.
“There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth” ~ Leo Tolstoy. A Russian writer referred to as one of the greatest authors of all times.
When we launched our lifestyle brand Joadre, what mayn of our fans did not know is that we also launched a fully equipped in-house production in Lagos, then we created a training programme to teach vulnerable women how to make clothes. The workload for us was soooo much. We ran a training programme, a production, then a design department and then distribution, promotion before the actual sales logistic. This is just how complex a single business idea or a project you are passionate about could sound.
The best solutions are the ones that break down and simplify a problem, making the solution obvious. And here is one of his rules of simplicity every business should follow. Make your ideas fit on the back of an envelope. Because if it is too hard to explain, then it is unlikely that your customers will understand leading to less sales and revenues. Imagine that! Decreased income due to complexity!…
Richard Bradson, the founder of the Virgin Group siad in one of his articles, “
Now think of people you know or probably you who is super creative and you burn with dozen of ideas. You launch 2 to 5 businesses or projects at the same time even when you whole team consist of you and yourself all together. How are we solving our complexity problem at Joadre?
Earlier this year, we started with a strategic downsizing. It was hard work and we are still in the process but we finally made it to cut off many complex activities in order to be focused on our primary goal which is to improve the lives of vulnerable groups by creating more income streams for them.
To be simple, we need to re- identify our goals and find synergies within our network or activities. If our goal is to increase the income of vulnerable groups, then we needed to focus on things that generates income for this target groups. On the other side we had to determine challenges that are really extreme. Like things taking so much steps, processes, time etcetera.
Have you experienced exactly just this same issue or something similar. Multiple complex ideas. And you have managed to develop a strategy to simplify everything you do? Please share your ideas and feedback with me using the “Ask Joadre” button in the menu left. Follow me on instagram @joadreapp.
Cheers, Joana
