The Thought: When you know the parts of something, you can build, grow, and adapt anything.

Context: This is the mental model Elon Musk used to start and grow Tesla and SpaceX. When you understand this mental model, you can grow what you want.

First Principles is the primary mental model I used to start and scale multiple 7 & 8-figure businesses. It will help you demystify your challenges in growing your business, department, email list, or [insert your thing here].

What First Principles Thinking Is…

It’s the parts or components that make up the whole.

In my businesses, I could take the house “down to the studs,” so to speak. If I wanted to start, scale, or optimize a business, I would go to First Principles thinking. It’s what I’m real real good at.

You don’t have to be an expert in every part of a business to be an expert at scaling a business.

All you have to know is the components and the standards of how those components should operate for a successful operational “machine.”

Take Elon, for example; he wanted to take rocket ships into space. When he looked at buying a rocket, he realized the $60-ish million $ price tag wouldn’t work.

Instead, he used first-principle thinking to identify the components of a rocket ship, create his own manufacturing company, and build them himself. 😅 💅

Utilizing First Principles Thinking to Grow…

1. List out the parts (components) that make your business work
   for example:
   • Leads
   • Sales
   • Fulfillment
2. List out the goal that you have for your businessFor example:
   • $1,000,000/month
3. Identify what standards are required to hit the goalfor example:
   • 3000 leads
   • 100 sales x $10k

I oversimplified this for a reason so that it’s clear.

If we cannot break down the components of our business, understand how that component operates, and if it’s up to snuff, it’ll be a tough road to growing the business.

Commonly, business owners don’t know all the components of their business—hence why they’re capped.

Elon wasn’t a rocket ship expert—he became a components expert.

Because of that, SpaceX could manufacture its rockets substantially cheaper than if they’d purchased them. He did the same thing with Tesla.

Knowing ‘First Principles’ will give you rocket ship growth (pun intended?)! That’s what I did. Now, rocket ship growth, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend. 🤣 But it does work.

If you’re stuck, capped, or feel like you’re spinning your wheels, I’d argue this is a big part of the reason.

By the way, I love this stuff, which is part of how I’m helping business owners like you. Reply if you want such assistance. I’ve got a silly no-brainer offer for you!

Two Ways to Identify If It’s ‘Up To Snuff’

This is important because if we don’t have proper expectations of how the components should operate, we can become emotionally compromised and quit.

Quitting too soon doesn’t do us any good. Adjusting and adapting are different, but I see most people leave. Start/stop/start/stop. Snip snap (bonus points if you know what that’s from), lol.

Knowing the standards of the components and how close or far from them you are will give you the clarity needed on the next steps.

I recently had a convo with a good friend about their lead gen. He seemed a bit bummed about “the results,” so I asked him what the numbers were, and he told me—I laughed.

He’s getting quality opportunities for an excellent price. His perspective is that he wasn’t. My experience says he was. If that was my business? GAME OVER.

This leads me to Way 1–

Talk to someone (preferred multiple someones) who is an expert and has done what you want that can help you set the right expectations for what the standards of your components should be.

Good?

Okay, Way 2–

If that isn’t an option (which I don’t know why it wouldn’t be), create your best-effort math and then put it to the test and wait for the feedback loop to tell you if you’re right, wrong, or close.

That’s it for this week.

I’m testing a bit of a shorter email. Like it?

Chris