Displacement Principle in Startups and Small Business

It’s really pretty simple. Intuitive. I didn’t learn about it in business school; I learned about it while building and running a real business. I decided to call it the displacement principle.

Displacement Principle: In the real world of small business, everything you do rules out something else you can’t do.

My favorite metaphor is dropping a brick into a full bucket of water. What happens? Displacement happens. Water splashes out of the bucket.

I’ve seen the same thing happen as people try to grow their businesses. It’s easy to add lots of new items to the lists of what else ought to be done. As you do, ask yourself:

Do we have the resources? Will this idea generate those resources? And, if not, what are we not doing when we start doing this.

Everything you do displaces something else that you can’t do. Learn to live with this and you’ll do better planning your business, and, particularly, growing your business.