The 70/30 Rule: Working in Cycles

Welcome back to the Unconventional Entrepreneur! In preparation for 2025 we are teaching our strategy for getting shit done while reducing overwhelm. This week, we're diving deep into a critical aspect of business success: working in revenue-driven cycles. By understanding and implementing this strategy, you can significantly accelerate your business growth. Click here to see our last post on Revenue Driving Activities. 

Let's get started.

The 70/30(ish) Rule: Using Cycles to Focus on Revenue-Driving Activities

We recommend working in 30 to 90-day Product, Marketing, or Sales Cycles. During these cycles you allocate 70%(ish) of your time, energy, and resources to one (just one!) of these revenue-generating categories. The remaining 30% is dedicated to maintainance activities in the other two, plus operations and management as needed. Operations do support your business - but it’s the other three areas that generate revenue. We're not power and money hungry monsters, but without revenue, you have no business... We’ll get into the details of what this all means in practice. 

Just a side note, that even if you’re preparing to fundraise (loan, investment, grant), this principle still holds. If you're a new business, you are the product, more than your idea or what you plan to sell. Marketing is building trust and relationships with potential investors while your sales is your pitch, asking people to invest and due diligence.  

Breaking Down Your Business into Four Key Areas.

(We talked about this in more detail in our last post)

1. Product: The foundation of your business. This includes product development, production, delivery, and improvement.

2. Marketing: Creating demand through awareness, building trust, and delivering value ahead of time

3. Sales: Converting interested prospects into paying customers.

4. Operations and Management: The backbone administration of your business, ensuring smooth functioning.

Use Cycles to Have More Progress and Less Overwhelm

Rationally, we know that we can’t give our best to product, marketing, and sales all at the same time. But a lot of us irrationally think that we have to - that as solo-prenuers we can’t let one part of the business down otherwise the business will crash. That’s the beauty of this method, you aren’t letting any part of the business “go” - you’re focusing your energy on really thinking and systematizing parts of the business so that when the cycle is over, that part is running really well; and then you can focus on the next.

For example, ever had a morning when your to-do list is 1000 meters long, but you still open your computer and go “I don’t know what I need to work on!!” or “WHAT am I doing today!?!”? With this method you’ll know what cycle you’re in - so you’ll open you computer and go “Ok, let me look at my[insert product/marketing/sales] priority”.

Back to the 70/30(ish) Rule: Prioritizing What Matters

Here is how it works. A “cycle” is a focused period of time —typically 30 to 90 days, depending on business needs—where you direct most (that 70%!) of your time and effort into one of the revenue-driving categories: Product, Marketing, or Sales. You’ll set one or two high-level goal(s) for that cycle, and most of your time will go toward making it happen.

After each cycle, you’ll rotate your focus. This gives you the chance to make meaningful progress in each area without getting overwhelmed.

A “cycle” is a focused period of time —typically 30 to 90 days, depending on business needs—where you direct most (that 70%!) of your time and effort into one of the revenue-driving categories: Product, Marketing, or Sales.

*We say 70/30(ish), because some cycles might be closer to 80/20 and others 60/40. Mostly, we want your focus and energy to be on the cycle. When someone (or your brain) brings in a new idea, we want you to ask yourself “does this make sense for the cycle I’m in right now”. We want all your work to be looked at through the lens of what cycle you’re in. 

Ok, for example:

Let’s pretend I have a circular business creating and selling Underwear Wall Art - avant-garde decor created from the second-hand bin (where passion goes to die).

*thanks Dall-e for the mispelled logo

How will working in revenue-driving cycles keep old lady undies from polluting waterways, giving them a dignified second life while also making sure the business is financially sustainable?

Let's look:

Cycle 1, Product: 30 days 

Product Goals (70% focus)

1. Fulfill Current Orders 20% faster, systematize process

2. Design a new product line at an increased price point

3. Add prints to our stock list on the website of our most popular product

These are not "snap my fingers and they are done" goals. 

These three goals each require time, thought, and systems to work. By starting a product cycle, I’m allowing myself the focus needed to put in systematic improvements to my old-lady-undie art product and giving myself resources for creativity, problem-solving, and operations building. 

Because I’m not going to be splitting my time and energy by launching a marketing campaign or selling at an in-person creators market during this sprint, I can focus on not just delivering my current orders 20% faster but also implementing systematic improvements to reduce inefficiencies and make sure all orders in the future, not just this month, are delivered 20% faster.

I don’t ignore the rest of my business, but my goals for other areas are maintenance goals. They don’t require a lot of strategic thinking or systems building.

Marketing (15% focus)

1. Capture One photo and video per day of my products and process - put them in a folder for use when I enter my marketing sprint

2. Keep a list of marketing content ideas

3. One social media post and email/week

Operations (15% focus)

1. Implement a color-coded undies organization system for faster production.

2. Renegotiate vendor contracts to optimize the quality and price of undies, packaging, and other supplies.

The dedicated work I put into the product this month will continue to have benefits even when I’m no longer in a product cycle. on the product. In this cycle I improved the speed of delivery and added 2 new product lines. This in turn will create buzz and better customer experience helping to drive marketing through word of mouth - the best marketing there is!

Cycle 2, Marketing: 30 days

Marketing (60% focus)

1. Create a post-purchase automated email sequence where we get feedback, collect testimonials, encourage social sharing, and offer a referral gift.
2. Create a marketing calendar and content for the next 60 days.
3. Get 100 ‘yes’ RSVPs for an in-person sales event happening in 30 days. 

Sales (20% focus)

1. Upload new products onto the website and sales channels 
2. Send new product announcements to customers and retailers

Product (10% focus)

1. Continue production and delivery quota with established quality standard

Ops (10% focus)

1. Hire and train website maintenance support 

During this cycle, I am creating enough content to last me through the next few cycles when I don’t want to be spending so much time on marketing. I also created a post-purchase email campaign that will increase organic marketing from my customers over the long term so I don’t have to think about it after every purchase. 

Lastly, I did all the marketing for an in-person sales event I’m doing in the next cycle so that in the next sprint I can focus on improving sales and not get people to the event.

Cycle 3: Sales, (30 days) 

 Sales (80% focus)

1. Create and share sales training for helpers at in-person events.

2. Design and create supportive materials for in-person events such as QR codes, interactive experiences, and ‘where to hang this’ guides. 

3. Implement a plan for reaching $10,000 in sales at the in-person event  

4. Create an automated welcome email sequence for people who gave contact details at the event.

5. Create post-event email sales sequence

6. Create 5 sales-focused social media posts 

Product (15% focus)

1. Ensure inventory is ready for the in-person event 

2. Track product feedback, interest, and why people buy data from events

Marketing & Ops (5% focus): 

1. All marketing is scheduled and being monitored

2. New hire check-in, feedback, and KPI monitoring

Hopefully, you’re starting to get the picture. In my sales cycle, I’m really focusing on selling. I’m trusting that my product and marketing systems and improvements I developed and implemented in those cycles are strong and all I need to focus on is maintenance. If that’s not the case, you’ll reassess (but again, some things just won’t be a priority until it’s their turn).

After this cycle, I’ll look at my yearly and long-term goals and see what’s next. Do I need to go back to product? Back to marketing? Continue with sales?

One last important note:

Some clients ask us, how do I know it’s time to move on from one cycle? Typically, we say - Stay in the cycle until the goals are completed. So if you set it for 30 days, but you still need another 30… it’s ok to make it longer. Or, if you really need to move into a marketing cycle to get the sales that you need, adjust your product goals. 

This is like everything about being an entrepreneur - design, test, iterate, learn.. and repeat. 

I want to give it a try! How do I start? 

1. Take your 2025 goals. (If you don’t have them yet, do them, or start with quarterly. If you want us to help you, you know where to find us for a free hour). 

2. Based on your goals, what do you need to start with in Jan 2025? 

1. Are you in a busy client/customer service mode and need to focus on client service? —> Product cycle

2. Do you need to build a stronger client pipeline? —> Marketing cycle

3. Do you have a lot of leads, but need to close some sales? —> Sales cycle.

3. Once you’ve determined this… identify some ambitious but achievable goals and decide how long you want to cycle to be (no less than 30 days, no more than 90). 

4. Workplan, and get started. It might take a few cycles to get the hang of it, but you should start to feel relief from day 1. 

Need help with any of this? Goal setting for 2025? Figuring out what cycle your in?

Don’t be shy - you know where to find us for a free hour. Or comment here. We want to know what you think and what questions your have. Nothing makes us happier than helping you out.