The Cost of Solving the Wrong Problem

A conversation I had recently has been bouncing around in my head.

An owner told me they needed more clients.

I smiled because, at first, it sounded reasonable. More clients usually means more revenue. More revenue often means more profit. And more profit can solve a lot of business problems..

But as we kept talking, something didn't add up.

I started asking questions about the team and then about capacity....then about how decisions were getting made.

Before long, it became pretty clear that more clients weren't going to solve anything. If anything, they were going to magnify the problem.

The owner was already involved in nearly everything. The team depended on them for answers because it was faster to ask than to look for a process that hadn't been documented yet. Everyone was busy, but they weren't necessarily moving in the same direction.

Adding twenty new clients to that business wouldn't have fixed it.

It probably would've made everyone more stressed.

That conversation reminded me how often entrepreneurs are rewarded for solving problems quickly.

We see a dip in revenue and think, "I need more sales."

Margins tighten and we start looking for ways to cut expenses.

The calendar feels overwhelming, so we think we need another hire.

Sometimes those are exactly the right answers.

Other times, they're simply solving the symptom instead of the cause.

What I've found is that the real challenge usually isn't solving the problem. Entrepreneurs are incredibly good at that.

The challenge is making sure we're solving the right problem in the first place.

I've seen owners spend months trying to generate more leads when their biggest opportunity was improving client retention.

I've watched people invest in new software when the real issue was that no one had clearly defined who owned what.

I've even seen businesses double in revenue only to discover the owner had simply created a bigger version of the life they were already trying to escape.

That's why I've become a little obsessed with questions.

Not because I like asking them...although my family would argue that fact...but because the quality of the question usually determines the quality of the solution.

One of my favorite things to do with clients is keep asking "why."

Not once but at least five times.

The first answer is usually the obvious one. The second starts to get interesting. By the fourth or fifth, we're often talking about something completely different than where we started.

That's usually where we stop talking about the symptom and start talking about what actually needs attention.

Maybe that's why I don't get too excited when someone tells me the first answer because I know there is a deeper one. 

I actually get curious about the question that led them there.

What problem are you solving today that deserves another "why?"

Until next time,

Go build a business your future self will thank you for.

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→ When Your Business No Longer Fits

→ Are You Fishing From the Wrong Pond?

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