At ProfitCon last month, I sat down with Duncan Lloyd.
Duncan is a fellow Profit First Professional and a member of my mastermind group. It’s a connection I value.
He was selling the accounting firm he built in the UK.
He told me a book called Working Backwards was helping him keep his focus on his clients, even as he was heading out the door.
The sale has closed now and recently, Duncan told me how he handled the last stretch.
Before the close, he called every client personally. He told them his plans. And he encouraged them to work with the new owners.
I haven’t stopped thinking about that.
Most owners near an exit are thinking about the deal, the paperwork, and what comes next.
I’d understand if Duncan had done the same. Instead, he started from the people he served and worked backward.
How Amazon Works Backward
That’s the idea at the heart of the book.
It was written by two former Amazon executives, and it explains how Amazon decides what to build.
Before the team builds anything, they write the press release. The announcement comes first.
Then they work backward to see whether the idea is worth making.
Most of us do it the other way around. We build, we sell, we grow, and we hope the life we wanted shows up somewhere along the way.
There’s always an order to place and a fire to put out.
I Built My Business From the Driver’s Seat
I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t build my business from a spreadsheet and a years-in-the-making plan.
I built it from the driver’s seat of my car.
When my daughter was young, I needed work that would let me drive her to tutoring and still take care of my clients.
That was my starting point and I worked backward from there.
It wasn’t fancy and some days it didn’t work, but it gave every decision something to answer to.
Here’s what I’ve learned over the years: a business built forward will take everything you give it, but a business built backward has a job to do.
Questions to Work Backward From
Think about these questions:
Where do you want to be on a Tuesday afternoon three years from now? Who’s with you? What are you no longer worrying about?
Then work backwards from there.
I’d love to hear your answers. Hit reply and tell me what you’d work backward from.
Cyndi
Quick Summary
- The idea: To work backward from your goals means starting with the result you want, such as the life, the customer experience, or the exit, and letting it shape every business decision.
- Where it comes from: Working Backwards, by former Amazon executives Colin Bryar and Bill Carr, describes how Amazon writes the press release before it builds a product.
- A real example: Profit First Professional Duncan Lloyd personally called every client before selling his UK accounting firm, starting from the people he served instead of the deal.
- Why it matters for ecommerce owners: A business built forward takes everything you give it. A business built backward has a job to do.
- Your next step: Picture a Tuesday afternoon three years from now. Who’s with you, and what are you no longer worrying about? Plan backward from there.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to work backward from your goals in business?
It means defining the outcome first, whether that’s the lifestyle you want, the experience your customers should have, or how you’ll eventually exit, and then making decisions about growth, hiring, and cash to serve that outcome. Instead of growing and hoping the life you wanted shows up, each decision has something to answer to.
What is the Working Backwards method used by Amazon?
Described in the book Working Backwards by Colin Bryar and Bill Carr, it’s Amazon’s practice of writing the press release and customer FAQ for a product before building it. The team then works backward to decide whether the idea is worth making.
How can an ecommerce owner apply working backward to their business?
Start with a specific picture of the future: where you want to be on an ordinary weekday, who you’re working with, and which worries are gone. Then set your owner’s pay, profit targets, growth pace, and team plans to support that picture. At Your Profit Team, we use Profit First and fractional CFO planning to help ecommerce owners connect their numbers to the life they want.
How does working backward help when planning to sell a business?
When you start from the people you serve, an exit becomes a handoff instead of just a transaction. Duncan Lloyd called every client personally before his sale closed, explained his plans, and encouraged them to stay with the new owners, protecting both his clients and the value of the business he built.
What questions should I ask to plan my business backward?
Ask where you want to be on a Tuesday afternoon three years from now, who’s with you, and what you’re no longer worrying about. Your answers become the starting point that your financial plan and daily decisions work toward.
Related reading: Purpose and Meaning: Why Did You Start Your Business? | How Big Is Big Enough? | Closing: Thriving | How Do I Create Processes So My Business Doesn’t Depend Entirely on Me?
You don't have to figure it out alone. Your Profit Team gives ecommerce owners the financial clarity and support that make the hard parts of business feel lighter.
