Lane 02 · 12 essays

When there are only a few of you.

Cash, hiring, pricing and planning for owners and small teams. The finance and operating ideas big companies take for granted, translated for a business you can see from one desk.

A full water tower feeding a nearly closed pipe that drips into an empty bucket at a shop door

Who this is for

Owners, operators and early teams, from a handful of people to a company finding its second gear.

the metaphor

Cash is water, and timing is the pipe. You can have plenty in the tank and still have a dry tap.

Questions this lane answers

Essays

In this lane

Narrow by industry or size

A builder handing a ring of keys to a real estate agent at the gate of a large new house while older neighbors watch from their porches

Small Business and StartupsEngineering and sales want different thingsA major feature reached GA and two people used it, because nobody asked sales until it was built. The questions to ask sales before you start.4 min read

Small Business and StartupsCash is water, and timing is the pipeWhy a profitable month can still leave you short on Friday, and why the money you could raise today might not be there tomorrow.5 min read

A busy bakery and, through a doorway at the back, a baker hunched over a sewing machine in a cramped tailor's workroom

Small Business and StartupsThe AI trapA service company built itself a great AI dashboard and sold it to six owners it knew. What it ended up with was a tool, but not a product.5 min read

A long line waiting along a velvet rope in a credit union lobby while the branch manager switches on the lamp at an extra station

Small Business and StartupsOpen the lane where the line isA branch with a long line needs a station someone can open when the line forms. Why I stopped hiring for roles and started hiring people.5 min read

A small restaurant with a full parking lot and a line at the door, the owner sitting on an upturned crate by the kitchen door with a notebook

Small Business and StartupsThe full parking lotA restaurant doubled its customers in a year and still couldn't afford a second location. Busy hides what each customer costs you to serve.4 min read

A worker on a ladder rolling up the awning of an old department store beside a covered shopping arcade

Small Business and StartupsThe anchor tenantWhen a big client leaves, my first question is "How does this benefit you?" What a departing anchor frees up, and what to know before it happens.5 min read

A barber on a step stool repainting one panel of the price board above the mirrors while regulars wait with their newspapers

Small Business and StartupsNobody reads the menu boardOwners put off raising prices for years while costs climb. Most customers are reading the value, and the number matters less than you fear.5 min read

An older sailor trimming the sail of a small boat heeling through the waves while two crew work beside him

Small Business and StartupsTitles are for pay. Roles are for Tuesday.On a sailboat, the best sailor isn't always at the helm. Split how senior someone is from what the work needs from them, then write the names down.5 min read

Two people writing behind folded screens at opposite ends of a long table, their two sheets overlapped on a light box between them

Small Business and StartupsGrading PMs without grading the graderMost PM reviews are a manager's story the PM hears at the end. Take both reads blind, lay them over each other, and let the gaps run the conversation.5 min read

A coach in a dim film room, game footage on the wall, circling one play on the notepad on his knee

Small Business and StartupsA new product leader's first ninety daysA new coach watches film before touching the playbook. How founders should set up a new product leader's first ninety days, and how the leader should spend them, starting with the calendar.6 min read

A country doctor watching a patient limp across worn floorboards, a clipboard ignored at his hip

Small Business and StartupsWhat thirty days inside a company turns upA questionnaire finds what it asks about. A month in the standups, customer calls and code reviews finds what's actually going on. A composite of what that month tends to show, and the questions to start with.4 min read

A half-built backyard deck, a carpenter drilling post holes with an auger while the homeowner watches from the back steps with a rolled-up plan

Small Business and StartupsStop funding teams by headcountA team gets eight people because it had seven last year. Nobody says what the eight are supposed to make true. Fund the problem instead, and let the team shape follow.5 min read

Running a small team and stuck on cash, hiring or pricing? Tell me what's going on.

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