Your Secret Creative Weapon — Constraints

E4: Constraints vs. Bottlenecks - what's the difference? Knowing the differences between these two and understanding how each of them can impact your business both positively or negatively depending on how you look at it.

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TOPICS:
Bottlenecks vs. Constraints Overview (0:53)
Constraints allow you to create boundaries and rules in which you can unleash your creativity. Bottlenecks are found within the boundaries through constraints and they slow down your business.

What is a Bottleneck? (1:48)
Bottlenecks can be anything that slows down the flow of your business from input to output. Your job as the operator of your business is to remove the bottlenecks in your business.

Common Bottlenecks for Small Business Owners (3:51)
For most entrepreneurs, they are the bottlenecks in their own business. If you're working in the business, you may not even realize that you are the bottleneck. To increase output and increase productivity, you will need leverage.

What is a Constraint? (5:34)
Constraints are necessary components for creativity to flourish. Constraints are the pre-requisite to creating something out of nothing. You need constraints. You can use limitations and constraints as tools to unleash your creativity.

Turning Constraints into Opportunities in Your Business (6:20)
When hiring Fulfillment Associates for our 3PL business, we had difficulty finding the right candidates on the labor market. Working with state-run organizations, we were able to find reliable staff members who were excited to be working with us.

Creative Cash Flow Strategy (8:19)
Cash is another common constraint. You could do a pre-order so that you can collect pledges prior to placing an order with your manufacturer. This way, you can test the demand for the product prior to placing a large order.

Getting Banned from Facebook Ads Overnight (9:29)
Through Facebook ads, we hit record sales. Then, a week later, we got banned and lost our primary growth engine. Our sales fell drastically. So what did we do? We diversified and found other growth channels to grow.

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First Class Founders is a show for indie hackers, bootstrapped founders, CEOs, solopreneurs, content creators, startup entrepreneurs, and SaaS startups covering topics like build in public, audience growth, product marketing, scaling up, side hustles, holding company, etc.

Past guests include Arvid Kahl, Tyler Denk, Noah Kagan, Clint Murphy, Jay Abraham, Andrew Gazdecki, Matt McGarry, Nick Huber, Khe Hy, and more.

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