Start slower than you want to

Almost everyone runs their first half marathon the same way.

The gun goes, the crowd is loud, the legs feel fresh. The first 5 km are the fastest of the day.

Then somewhere around 15 km the bill arrives.

Experienced runners do the opposite. They start a bit slower than feels right and finish faster. Negative splits. It looks boring for the first hour. It looks very smart in the last twenty minutes.

I see the same race in small businesses all the time.

Big launch. New website, ads, posts every day for two weeks.

Then nothing. No budget left, no energy left, and the people who came in month one never hear from you again.

The slower start looks like this.

Launch to the people you already know.

Spend less than you planned in the first month.

Keep something in the legs for month six, when the real customers start to show up.

Nobody remembers who was leading at 5 km.

They remember who finished strong.