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Turn the flywheel
Keep your business moving one small push at a time. In this video, you'll learn how even daily tasks can build momentum for bigger changes.
Article
Estimated time: 2m
Note: This video uses brightly colored animated illustrations. Upbeat background music plays.
On screen: An old-fashioned watermill stands in a green field. On the building's side, a red water wheel slowly turns.
Note: An unseen announcer provides narration.
Announcer: When building a business, it helps to understand the power of momentum.
On screen: Turn the Flywheel.
Announcer: To do that, consider the flywheel effect. Imagine a big wheel outside an old mill, heavy and hard to turn. Once it starts to move it gains momentum and gets progressively easier
On screen: A man walks toward a store with a sign reading "The Watermill Shoppe." The door displays a sign marked "Opening Soon."
Announcer: A person walks toward a shop.
Announcer: Your business is a lot like that wheel.
Narrator: Opening soon.
On screen: The man walks into the shop and past a messy desk, with documents piling high.
Announcer: In the early stages, even the smallest tasks seem difficult.
Narrator: Boxes fall onto files. A broom falls.
On screen: The man begins to sweat as he walks past a growing pile of unopened boxes. He continues sweating as he passes an unfinished display area. A broom falls over, as he passes.
Announcer: Over time, as you solve one problem after another, you gain momentum and things get easier.
On screen: The man stops sweating and begins walking more confidently as he takes a clipboard and begins checking off accomplishments, including a neat desk, shelves of organized inventory, and a finished display area.
Announcer: Before you know it, the wheels will start to turn on new ideas and projects.
On screen: The man wipes a final bead of sweat from his brow as he walks out the Watermill Shoppe's door and stands by a sign reading "Grand Opening." Decorative banners are strung overhead. A lightbulb appears over the man's head, symbolizing inventiveness.
On screen: Chase for Business (registered trademark.)
Logo: The Chase octagon symbol.
In his books Good to Great and Turn the Flywheel, business guru Jim Collins talks about the "flywheel effect." It's a concept used in car motors and other machines to store energy and keep things running smoothly. Picture a big wheel outside of an old mill: heavy, large and hard to turn.
Your business also has a flywheel. You're probably in the early stages of getting it moving. But every problem you solve or piece of infrastructure you put in place is a push on that wheel. The more you do, the faster it turns. And the magic of the flywheel is this: Early pushes in the right direction help you turn the wheel faster, and once you have momentum, you won't have to push so hard to keep the business running. Your time and energy can go into new ideas or special projects.
You can grow. Remember, no single action, whether you're turning a flywheel or working on your business, results in success. You don't need to go big all at once. Do the little things that add up to make the next — and bigger — success possible.
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