Start-Today Business Reset
Reimagine the business from present conditions instead of rebuilding the past
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 86%
The Start-Today Business Reset replaces the reflex to restore a disrupted company as quickly as possible with a more fundamental question: what business would you build if you were beginning under current conditions? Leaders first describe the present market, customer needs, constraints, and available capabilities without treating the old model as fixed. They then design a business around that reality and compare it with the existing operation. Elements that remain useful are retained, while outdated offers, channels, costs, or assumptions are changed or removed. The model turns a crisis from a restoration exercise into a strategic reset, reducing the risk of investing heavily to recreate a company suited to conditions that no longer exist.
Origin
Extracted from The Jasmine Star Show during a quarantine discussion inspired by business lessons from the 2008 recession and advice credited in the episode to Matt Higgins.
Core principles
- 01Treat changed conditions as a fresh starting point
- 02Do not assume the old business deserves to be rebuilt
- 03Design around today's customer needs and constraints
- 04Separate useful assets from legacy commitments
- 05Use disruption as permission to reconsider fundamentals
How to run it
- 1
Suspend the rebuild reflex
Pause the assumption that success means returning the company to its previous form as quickly as possible.
Pro tip Write down which old conditions you may be treating as permanent.
Watch out Urgency can cause teams to restore familiar systems before checking whether they are still valuable.
- 2
Map present conditions
Document current customer needs, buying behavior, constraints, competition, and operating realities.
Pro tip Use recent customer conversations and behavior rather than forecasts alone.
Watch out Do not build the reset on temporary headlines without checking underlying demand.
- 3
Inventory useful assets
List the relationships, skills, technology, audience, capital, and intellectual property that remain valuable.
Pro tip Distinguish reusable assets from the old delivery model around them.
Watch out Past investment is not evidence that an asset still belongs in the future business.
- 4
Design from zero
Describe the offer, customer, channel, revenue model, and operations you would choose if starting today.
Pro tip Develop more than one candidate model before selecting a direction.
Watch out Avoid quietly copying the existing business into the supposedly clean-slate design.
- 5
Compare and reconfigure
Compare the start-today design with the existing company, then retain, adapt, or eliminate each major component.
Pro tip Prioritize changes that address the largest mismatch between current needs and the legacy model.
Watch out A complete reinvention may be unnecessary when selective changes can close the gap.
- 6
Test before scaling
Run a bounded pilot to verify that customers respond to the redesigned offer before committing the full organization.
Pro tip Define the evidence that would justify expansion or reversal.
Watch out Do not mistake internal enthusiasm for market validation.
In the wild
An in-person training company loses access to venues during a prolonged disruption. Instead of asking how to reopen workshops fastest, its leaders ask what learning business they would start today. They retain their instructors and curriculum, replace daylong events with short cohort sessions, and test a subscription that combines live instruction with an online resource library.
→ The company validates a model suited to current customer schedules and delivery constraints.
Common mistakes
Rebuilding the old model faster
Speed compounds the error when the restored business no longer fits customer behavior or operating conditions.
Discarding every existing asset
A clean-slate question should challenge assumptions, not erase useful relationships, capabilities, or intellectual property.
Skipping customer evidence
A reset based only on internal brainstorming can replace one set of unsupported assumptions with another.
Is it for you?
Best for
Owners facing crises, technological shifts, regulation changes, or other conditions that invalidate previous assumptions.
Not ideal for
Stable businesses experiencing a brief operational interruption with no meaningful change in customer demand.
From the transcript
“The question that we all reflectively ask ourselves, how do I rebuild my business as fast as possible?”
“I think that's the wrong question.”
“I think the right question to ask is if I were starting my business today, what business would I do?”
From the episode
My Audio Diary: How Covid-19 is Affecting My Life and Business