Randy Hetrick had no pressing need to create the TRX Training Center. It was a significant investment and there was little value for all of his customers.
The gamble, which Hetrick thought would add to Fitness Anywhere Inc.’s branding, worked out. He’s amortized the investment and strengthened the company.
A key to successful leadership “is the ability to make decisions, act on them and not spend much time looking back,” says Hetrick, president and CEO of Fitness Anywhere, a provider of training products and exercise programs.
Prior to founding the company, Hetrick was a U.S. Navy SEAL. So his years of being quick to action has transferred to running his 60-employee company.
You don’t need to labor over every decision, he says. Make sure it’s an area you’re well versed, strategize with key employees and adjust when needed.
Hetrick’s philosophy has helped Fitness Anywhere grow its 2009 revenue about three times its 2008 revenue of $7 million and create key partnerships with people like NFL quarterback Drew Brees.
Smart Business spoke with Hetrick about how to make quick decisions.
Embrace quick decisions. I am a firm believer in the blink judgment principle. Oftentimes, so long as you’re qualified in the domain, and you have a lot of experience in the domain, the decision that you consider and act on quickly will be nearly as good as the one that you anguish over in committee for a long time then eventually put into grudging motion.
It’s the old military principle where the 80 percent solution executed violently now will trump the 100 percent solution executed six months from now every time.
No. 1, you have to make sure that you really do have sufficient domain expertise in the decision arena that you’re addressing. You bring in key advisers. You solicit their input. And you synthesize an outcome and you put it into motion.
I’m not suggesting that you never evaluate to see how it’s doing, I’m just suggesting that it’s important in early-stage companies not to waste time or bandwidth or get caught up in sorts of analysis paralysis.
There’s always five or six ways to do things. One of them is going to be best, one of them is going to be disastrous, and the other four or five will be pretty darn close in outcome if executed aggressively and to the fullest of your team’s ability.