📊 A key metric we track when taking on work is "brain damage per dollar."
How much brain damage is this engagement going to cause us, divided by how many dollars it will generate.
Over time you want that number trending close to zero. 📉
For new clients, or specialty cases, that initial number will be relatively high.
You'll spend a lot of time spinning wheels and figuring out the best way to tackle the project. 🤔
For flat fee folks like us, this is the most inefficient period.
But as we refine our processes, and get more reps in for various work, the flywheel begins to approach exit velocity. 🚀
The average brain damage per dollar graph starts to look asymptotic. This is a good place to be.
The challenge is not flying too close to the sun. At some point, the brain damage of managing the flywheel starts to mess with the overall system. It'll cause serious drag where none is needed. 💣
The worst place to be is where you have unnecessary drag that doesn't produce revenue. 😢
For us, we are still in refining mode. But we are at a point where we are having serious conversations about declining work that doesn't get our ratio closer to zero.
Good place to be. 👍
