You Are Solving the Wrong Problem
The most expensive mistake capable owners make is fixing the symptom they can see while the real constraint stays hidden.
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A podcast for expert business owners
You May Be Solving the Wrong Problem
You know how to serve clients. You may be less certain about how to explain, market, manage and grow the business around that expertise. Bob and Mark Graham look at the problems capable owners can see — and uncover the ones they may be too close to notice.
For financial advisors, coaches, speakers, consultants and other established experts.
The premise
The Visible Problem Is Not Always the Real One
Referrals are slowing down, so you assume you need more marketing.
Employees keep bringing decisions back to you, so you assume you hired the wrong people.
Revenue is growing, but the business feels harder to run, so you assume growth is simply supposed to feel this way.
Here is what tends to happen.
Owners solve the problem closest to the surface because that is the one they can see. But the real constraint may be hiding in the message, the operation, the leadership or the way the business still depends on them.
That is the blind spot.Two diagnosticians
One Business. Two Ways of Seeing It.
What the market sees
Outside the Company
Bob Graham
Bob looks at how the business is understood outside the company.
- Positioning
- Referral language
- Authority
- Content
- Books
- Speaking
- Sales conversations
- Market perception
- Point of view
- What prospects repeat
What the business is doing
Inside the Company
Mark Graham
Mark looks at what is happening inside the company.
- Strategic planning
- Leadership
- Accountability
- Team behavior
- Communication
- Performance measures
- Delegation
- Decision ownership
- Operating habits
- Owner dependence
Bob asks whether the market understands the value. Mark asks whether the business can deliver that value consistently. Together, they look for the problem beneath the problem.
Recognition
Does Any of This Sound Familiar?
People respect your work but struggle to explain why you are different
Your referrals introduce you too broadly
Your team stays busy but priorities keep changing
Employees wait for your approval
Marketing happens in bursts
More content, but not more qualified conversations
You hired help but became busier
Revenue increased while margin or energy declined
Too much of the business still lives in your head
The company works because you keep holding it together
The issue may not be effort. You may be applying effort to the wrong constraint.
The podcast
Recent Episodes
Each episode takes one familiar problem and examines it from both sides — the market’s view and the operation’s.
Your Referrals Are Costing You Sales
Referrals feel like proof the business works. They can also be quietly sending the wrong people through the door.
▶38:22
You Don’t Have a Marketing Problem. You Have a Meaning Problem.
When the market can’t repeat what you do, more marketing just spreads the confusion faster.
▶44:51
Your Team Is Waiting for You Again
When every decision routes back to the owner, the bottleneck isn’t the team. It’s the design of the business.
▶39:47
Submit your blind spot
Tell Us Your Story
You do not need to have the problem neatly defined. In fact, that may be the point.
Tell us what is happening in the business, what you believe is causing it and what you have already tried. Bob and Mark review selected submissions — privately, anonymously on the podcast, or as the basis for a deeper Blind Spot Review.
Bring us the problem you can see. We will help you find the one underneath it.
Your Blind Spot Has Been Submitted
Thank you for trusting us with the details. Bob and Mark review submissions for recurring patterns and possible episode topics. If your situation is selected for a private or on-air review, someone will be in touch.
What Are You Too Close to See?
You may already know where the business hurts. The harder question is whether you know what is causing it.