Fresh eyes, fresh ideas

Yesterday I did something wild. I went to a new hairdresser. Not because my old one did anything wrong - she’s lovely - but because I wanted fresh eyes on the same old head. Sometimes you just need someone who hasn’t been staring at you for years to say something obvious… and life‑changing.

And oh boy, did she deliver.

I sat down, made the usual small talk, and then she hit me with this absolute pearler:

“You know, your hair is actually really curly. Instead of straightening it every day, why don’t you just… embrace the curls?”

Cue the explosion.
Mind. Blown.
A simple idea, but damn, what a fine one.

I’ve been fighting my hair for years. Decades. A squillion trips to the salon and not one person has ever said, “Hey Trace, what if you stopped working against what you’ve already got?”

And of course, because my brain is wired for small business, this got me thinking.

💡 What if we’re doing the same thing in business?

Sometimes we’re so committed to “the way we’ve always done it” that we don’t even notice we’re straightening curls every single day. We’re stuck in the mud of habit, routine, and old assumptions.

Then someone new walks in and says,
“Have you thought of this?”
And suddenly the clouds part, angels sing, and your bottom line quietly whispers, “Thank you.”

🔧 Small tweaks = enormous impact

In small business - and especially in bookkeeping practices - the tiniest adjustments can create massive improvements.

A few examples:

• Increase your gross profit margin by just 1% in a $1M turnover business → that’s an extra $10,000 in your pocket at year end.
• Reduce customer payment terms from 14 days to 7 → suddenly you’re not sweating bullets every Thursday when supplier bills are due.
• Automate one repetitive task → you can free up hours each week to focus on higher‑value work.
• Review your pricing annually instead of every five years → your revenue keeps pace with your expertise.

These aren’t big, scary, flip‑your‑whole‑business‑upside‑down changes. They’re curls‑instead‑of-straightening changes.
Tiny. Obvious. Transformational.

👀 Fresh eyes matter

Whether it’s a mentor, a bookkeeper, a consultant, or a new hairdresser who accidentally becomes your business coach - sometimes you just need someone who isn’t tangled up in your day‑to‑day to point out the opportunity sitting right in front of you.

So, here’s your challenge this week:

Where are you straightening curls in your business?
What’s one small tweak you could make that would create a big shift?

Fresh eyes. Fresh ideas. Fresh results.

And maybe… fresh beachy curls.

Stay cool and hit the beach!