Why Small Business Direction Mistakes Cost More

Feeling exhausted at the end of the workday? Wondering why no matter how much you accomplish, it never feels like enough? Does life feel like a painful series of highs and lows where some days you feel on track, but most days you feel stuck on a treadmill?

Your compass is probably broken.  

I recently wrote about the concept of Productivity at All Costs, where I challenged the “To-Do List Olympics” and instead argued for meaningful progress over sheer output. But after a few weeks of deep reflection and conversations with other entrepreneurs and business leaders, I realized that this goes beyond productivity addiction. The real issue is misdirection.

Direction Mistakes Are Expensive

As I reviewed my journals and daily to-do lists, a pattern emerged. It took me back to my early days of orienteering in the thick vegetation of the Missouri backwoods and later, more intense navigation tests during Air Force survival training in the Colorado mountains. Back then, a minor misread of a compass or map (even by just a few feet) could land me hundreds of feet off course in minutes. If I confused two similar landmarks, I could miss a rendezvous point by half a mile or more.  In training, that could mean another night under the stars and stretching that MRE an extra few meals.  

In business, the same rule applies. We may not use a compass and map, but we do set goals and those goals act as our waypoints. Every task we add to our to-do list either pulls us closer to those waypoints or pushes us further off track. A single “cool idea” that isn’t aligned with your path can cost you countless hours, dollars, and resources.

The Smaller You Are, The Higher the Stakes

Direction mistakes are dangerous in any organization, but they’re especially risky for small businesses and startups. Here’s why:

1. 1. Fewer Resources = Higher Vulnerability
      When you’re wearing 10 hats, distractions are inevitable. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by fires and veer off course.

1. 1. Survival Mode Distorts Priorities
      In early stages, the goal is often just to survive. That can make every little task seem urgent and critical, even when it’s not.

1. 1. Small Missteps Have Big Costs
      Cash burns faster. Tolerance levels (from your team, vendors, and even customers) are lower. A month of distraction can do serious damage.

Why Staying on Track Is So Hard

There are countless reasons small business leaders struggle with direction:

• • Goal setting is hard. (See my article: “Screw SMART Goals”)

• • You get judgment from your team for “ignoring” their fires.

• • You don’t see the misstep until you’re already too far off course.

• • Your strategy is buried in a doc you never revisit.

• • You’re pulled in too many directions to focus.

A Better Way to Stay Aligned

Here’s a simple, high-impact approach to course-correcting and staying aligned:

1. Know Where You’re Going

Start small and expand. Define where you want to be in 30, 60, 90 days. Then stretch into 6- and 12-month goals once you’re more established. Don’t bother setting 5-year visions if you can’t stick to a 5-week plan.

2. Know What It Will Take

For each time frame, identify 3–5 clear projects or outcomes. These should be realistic given your time, energy, and resources. If it doesn’t fit on a single page, it’s too complex.

3. Know What You Have

Be honest about the resources at your disposal—time, team, money, tools. Don’t build plans around ideal conditions. Build for reality.

4. Review and Revise

Create a rhythm:

• • Review your one-page summary weekly

• • Reassess 30/60/90 goals every month

• • Update your 6- and 12-month plans quarterly

If this takes more than 1–2 hours per month, your system is too bloated. Simplify.

Ready to Fix Your Compass?

If you’re ready to set goals that actually guide you, not guilt you, check out my blog post: How STUPID Goal Setting Tripled My Productivity. You’ll get a full breakdown of the history of goal-setting, why most systems fail small businesses, and how to start building a goal system that actually works.

Let’s stop sprinting in circles. Let’s start moving with purpose.

And if you’d like a template for how I lay out my own goal setting, drop me an email here and I’d be happy to send it your way!

 

Photo credit to Markus Winkler