In business, we have been taught to measure results in things like revenue, profit, and growth. The irony is - for a business to succeed it needs to fulfill the needs of its customers, and these are all things customers don’t give a shit about.
On the flip side, many gyms lack the operational chops to really track and optimize for revenue, profit and growth. But they kill it on the things customers DO give a shit about.
Either side, optimized on it’s own is a broken business. You cannot only operate for customer outcomes if you’re not thinking about business objectives. But if you only think about business outcomes, you will likely run your business into the ground over time.
And in my near 2 decades doing business, this is where I find everyone failing. Either you’ve over optimized on business outcomes, ignoring the customer needs… or you’ve over optimized on customer needs neglecting business outcomes.
Generational businesses do both. And it’s always by design.
If you find your business on the fringe of shutting down (or on a downward decline), I would inspect both sides of this coin.
When your teams meet and talk about goals, objectives, or plans - how much of it is focused on things your customers don’t care about? (namely YOU, they don’t care about your company, your growth, your profit, etc). How much of it is focused on things the business needs to sustain, thrive and serve your clients better?
A healthy balance of the two should be present, and it should easily be formed in the lens of customer value DRIVES business success. They always work hand in hand.
Any business success without customer value is short term.
Any customer value without business success is short term.
Anything that is short term, leads to a business that’s no longer there in the near future.
This balance is very hard to find, and is why most businesses fail over time.