
In this episode, Scott Becker shares insights on hiring and customer selection, setting pricing floors, and simplifying decision-making.
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This is Scott Becker with the Becker Business Podcast and the Becker Private Equity Podcast. Today's discussion is Filters and Floors and four More Business Thoughts. So here's the concept. The first concept today comes from a book by Benjamin Hardy called Scaling Benjamin Hardy I only really know of because he's been the co writer on a series of books with Dan Sullivan, the sort of founder of Strategic Coach. And for all that I haven't loved the experience I had in Strategic Coach, I'm incredibly impressed with the thinking of Dan Sullivan in some of his writings and Benjamin Hardy as well. So the first two concepts that come out of the Benjamin Hardy book are as follows. These are the filters and floors. First is if you're hiring people, the concept is to filter them out fast as you try and figure out who can make it work, who can't make it work, and so forth. The concept has always been higher, slow, fire, fast, you know, and I'm not so sure that I'm so good at that. So I want to give people plenty of chances to succeed if they can't succeed, to find another job before we let them go, but to ultimately filter fast. And the same thing being with customers is you start to understand your customer base and you know, your customer base, you can start to filter out real prospects from not real prospects very quickly. And that's the content. The second concept he talks about that I love is that of floors. And think about floors in its simplistic way as a pricing mechanism. If you don't sell a sponsored episode for less than 1500 bucks, once you do so, you put yourself in a spot where that then becomes your floor, whatever that lower price is. So maintaining real floors as to what you do so you can provide real value and have clarity as to what you're trying to do. And it's really in anything in your employees understanding what the floor floor is for a good employee, what the understanding of the floor is for a good customer, and then to be very disciplined about what those floors are. And I love these two concepts from Benjamin Hardy. The second concept that we'll talk about this morning comes from a book by Glenn Van Pesky and Glenn is one of my favorite authors and thinkers. He's the founder of a company called Gossamer Gear. He's got four concepts that I love from one of his books. The first is be grateful. The second is step up and help wherever there is a need. The third is practice generosity. And you practice generosity not only to help others, because it also fills your own bucket. And then the fourth concept from his book is live unencumbered so you could do more. You know, I always feel better when I throw out an extra pair of pants when I get rid of some of the dad's complications. I find that in life, the more you have it, at some point there's a lot of diminishing returns and, and it goes in the wrong direction that you end up having more but living not as well because you've got more headaches, more hassles. So I love Glenn Van Pesky's concepts and thoughts. The third concept is from a guy following Twitter, Jim Haskell. And I think this goes back to what we talked about earlier. But the constantly look at stop stacking complexity. Look for making business and life simple. One offer one market, one sales path and, and run that until it works or until you just die out on it. But, but really to focus the simpler. The simpler you can focus, the better off you are. The fourth concept to go today with these thoughts is this is the more things you have, the more headaches you will have again. And this goes to them. We talked about earlier that the take less, do more concept with Glenn Van Pesky. But there's a serious amount of diminishing returns as you accumulate more. So you get a spot where having more has a negative impact on your happiness versus a positive impact. I am a true believer that this is correct and we encourage everybody to think this way, that more is not necessarily better. More at some point becomes worse. It's almost like you say yes, you say yes, you say yes. So you've overloaded yourself. And then any more yeses cause trouble versus help. The last console to talk about today is if you come into a lump sum of money, don't act quickly. Many that come into money go broke. There's a, there's a school of professional athletes and others that have gone broke after making a ton of money. So the concept is if you make money, sit with it for a bit, then figure out what you want to do with it. Yes, do some charitable giving, yes to some small splurges, but don't blow the whole wad in a short period of time because it's not replaceable for most of us. In any event, those are filters and floors and four more business thoughts. We hope you enjoy this podcast and thank you for listening to the Becker Business Podcast, the Becker Private Equity Podcast. Thank you very, very.
Host: Scott Becker
In this episode, Scott Becker delves into practical business philosophies and lessons for leaders, derived from recent readings and notable thinkers. Centered on concepts like efficient hiring, setting boundaries, practicing gratitude, and financial prudence, Becker offers listeners six key takeaways ("Filters", "Floors", and four additional business thoughts) that encourage simplicity, discipline, and mindfulness in business and life.
Source: Benjamin Hardy, co-author with Dan Sullivan (Strategic Coach)
Concept: Filter candidates and prospects quickly to focus energy on the right people.
“The concept is to filter them out fast as you try and figure out who can make it work, who can't make it work, and so forth.”
— Scott Becker (01:05)
Source: Benjamin Hardy
Concept: Establish strict minimums (“floors”) for pricing, employee standards, and client expectations.
“Maintaining real floors as to what you do so you can provide real value and have clarity as to what you’re trying to do.”
— Scott Becker (02:09)
Source: Glenn Van Pesky, founder of Gossamer Gear
Concepts:
“I always feel better when I throw out an extra pair of pants... The more you have it, at some point there's a law of diminishing returns.”
— Scott Becker (04:01)
Source: Jim Haskell (via Twitter/X)
Concept: Resist the urge to add complexity to business models or life.
“The simpler you can focus, the better off you are.”
— Scott Becker (05:19)
Echoes Van Pesky's Minimalism
Concept: With accumulation comes diminishing returns on happiness; more possessions or commitments can ultimately hinder satisfaction and productivity.
“More is not necessarily better. More at some point becomes worse.”
— Scott Becker (06:10)
Concept: When gaining a significant sum of money, practice restraint.
“If you make money, sit with it for a bit, then figure out what you want to do with it.”
— Scott Becker (06:40)
On Firing and Filtering:
“I want to give people plenty of chances to succeed... but to ultimately filter fast.” (01:30)
On Minimalism:
“You end up having more, but living not as well because you’ve got more headaches, more hassles.” (04:38)
On Saying Yes:
“You say yes, you say yes, you say yes, so you’ve overloaded yourself. And then any more yeses cause trouble versus help.” (06:24)
Summary in a Nutshell:
Scott Becker synthesizes concepts from prominent business thinkers to advocate for clarity, discipline, and minimalism in professional and personal decision-making—offering a roadmap of filters, floors, gratitude, simplicity, and caution in financial windfalls.