Dropping Balls, Juggling and Kanban

Juggling is such a great metaphor for two key parts of the first dollar process.

It’s a great demonstration of what hapens when we are operating at red-line with our commitments and just one teeny (or big)  thing not only causes slow down but it stuffs everything up!

As a juggler, you practice with two balls, then three, four and so on until you hit your limit. Let’s say your limit is five.

If you are happily juggling away with three balls and someone throws you a new ball to make four, no sweat, you keep juggling without missing a beat. You can handle five, so no problem.

Then they throw you another ball, you wobble slightly but it’s ok. You can do this, five balls is your current max, you are stretched but you do it.

Somebody throws in the sixth ball.

In Juggling, if you go “over capacity” you don’t just go back to three or four balls. The balls fly everywhere and you have to start again!

When we are working, we do the the same thing, If you are already busy, and someone throws a ball at you (something you can’t avoid, sickness, kids threw up at school, dog hurts paw, client goes banannarama!) you also will “drop” everything.

When you are starting your own new business. You are already busy, adding in Your First Dollar almost always puts you to capacity and then someone pushes something at you – splat, balls all over the floor, you have to handle this ball someone just threw at you. Guess which ball gets left on the ground – yep – the  Your First Dollar ball.

In my new book – you can download a copy for free here – I introduced Kanban. This Japanese process changed my life and hundreds of students lives as well.

A Kanban board makes visible everything you have going on.  You get your control back. For an entrepreneur like you, it’s a revolution.

I’ve outlined the whole process in a series of videos you can watch here – Kanban For Entrepreneurs

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