The Vacuum Strategy - Letting Go To Move Forward

The funniest word my son says, hands down, is “vacuum.”

He gets VERY excited every time we pull the vacuum out of the downstairs closet and not only does he pronounce the “v” as a “w,” he absolutely hammers the first syllable. It comes out something like “WAAHHHH cuuuume.” He's also decided that vacuums are always getting rid of something smelly, so every time he sees it he screams “WAHHHH cuuuuume, ohhhhhh stinky P-U Garbage Truck!” You know when something is happening right in front of you but you’re already nostalgic for when it won’t happen anymore? I bet the French have a word for it.

Anyway, my son doesn't have anything to do with today’s post, but I’ve gotten so frustrated with everything I read being this sterile, ChatGPT created “it’s not this - it’s this” garbage that I wanted to give you something real. About my son and stinky vacuums.

And, today’s post is on vacuums, and you can pronounce them any way you’d like. But I’d recommend giving “WAHHHH cuuuume” a spin. It’s fun.

The Loss of Vacuums

Vacuums, for our purposes, are the blank space left when you remove something. Everything interesting in my life has come from vacuums - I used to do something, that something was taken away (usually against my will), and then I had to figure out a thing to replace it. And the replacement was usually better than the original thing.

Unfortunately, vacuums don’t really exist anymore. They’re uncomfortable — and removing discomfort, as I've told you a million times, is the most successful business strategy out there.

Here’s an example:

When people used to break up, there’d be a vacuum - often described by the person being broken up with as a “hole.” A space where someone you once loved used to be, but now wasn’t. They’d move two towns over, marry someone new, and for all intents and purposes… vanish.

That doesn’t happen anymore.

A good friend of mine broke up with a long-term girlfriend about 18 months ago. But, he still follows her on Facebook and Instagram. He “likes” her career updates on LinkedIn and checks her location on Snapchat out of “habit.” He claims it’s harmless.

The problem with this is that our brains are dumb. They don’t understand that “liking” a LinkedIn post is, quote, harmless. They think it means the person is still in your life. So, there’s no vacuum. Which means there’s no opportunity to fill it.  

I use this example because it’s easy to understand, but it’s by no means the only or even most impactful one. We’ve optimized our lives to avoid vacuums.

Here’s another:

If you’re a freelancer and you’ve got 6 clients, and one of them makes up 70% of your total revenue and takes up 70% of your time, that’s dangerous. Especially if they aren’t even the type of client you want long-term.

If you’ve never been a freelancer or entrepreneur, this might seem silly - why would you have such a big client that wasn’t a good customer? But if you’ve been a freelancer or entrepreneur, you’re nodding because you know how easy it is to get yourself in this situation.

A smart, long-term decision would be to drop that client and create a vacuum - space to figure out what your best customer looks like and space to find them. But, obviously, that’s scary. And, the world will push you to not do it. People will tell you to use AI tools to increase your capacity or to outsource the work for the big client so that you can keep them on or maybe you should just try to build a roster of smaller clients WHILE you keep your big client. Just suck it up for a bit. Maybe start waking up early.

And so you'll try those things. We avoid the vacuum at all costs.

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It’s not just the big vacuums that have been removed - it’s the small ones, too.

The 17-minute wait-for-the-dentist vacuum is filled by your phone, as is the 8-minute-Starbucks-latte-wait vacuum and even the 45-second-elevator-ride vacuum. There are none left.

Vacuum Economics

I think the problem with most vacuums is positioning.

We suffer from loss aversion, so we value things we have way more than things we don’t. You’re twice as upset when you lose a $20 then you are excited when you find one.

So, positioning against this inherent bias becomes huge. You'll need a strong argument. Let’s go back to our freelancer.

Let’s say that big client pays $10 grand a month and takes 70% of your time, or ~120 hours. When you drop them, you’ll have a $10k cash vacuum, sure, but you’ll also get 120 hours to figure out how to fill it.

In month one, you might spend 40 hours on customer development - cold outreach and conversations with existing customers - then 40 hours on marketing campaigns to reach a customer that emerges and another 40 hours of direct sales to convert them. That’s your vacuum. And, I’d bet, you’ll have chipped away at that $10k hole with a much better customer.

You aren't losing $10k in revenue - you're paying $10k for a new strategy which, in the long-run, will hopefully make you hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's a no brainer, even if it takes a few months. 

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Give Yourself Some Credit

Vacuums are scary because we think of the thing we used to have as the “floor.” A relationship, a customer, etc. They’re predictable and safe. Removing them gives us the immediate feeling that the floor is falling out from under us.

But give yourself some credit.

If you give yourself 40 hours a week to make back your $10k, you’re going to sit at your desk for the first five minutes and it’s going to be VERY uncomfortable. You’ll say “what the F&CK did I just do?!” seven or eight times. But you won’t just roll over and die. You’ll have an idea. Then another. Why don’t you try that thing you’ve been meaning to try? And you'll get to work. 

A helpful tactic is to zoom forward. Pretend it’s a year in the future and you’re being interviewed on a podcast about this wildly successful thing you’ve built. And you tell the story:

“So, I had this one big client. They paid the bills, but, I knew they weren’t what I wanted long-term. So, I fired them. I cut my revenue by 80%. It was terrifying. But, it gave me the space to ______”

Then, think of the interview if you keep the client.

“Yep, so, I’m, uhhh, still spending 120 hours a month on this client that doesn’t value me and isn’t helping me grow. And they still pay me $10k. And the rest of the business doesn't have the oxygen to grow..."

Vacuums are uncomfortable because in the short-term they shake the floor. They feel unsteady. But, in the long-term, they raise your potential ceiling. It’s the way to capture upside. Strategy requires space. 

So, what vacuums are you avoiding?

*Sorry… WAHHHH cuuuuumes.