When It Comes to Your Shop, Less Might Be More

ARE YOU LIKE ME? Well, I am, and more often than not while I’m perusing the myriad streaming services, despite the hundreds or thousands of choices, I find myself saying, “There’s nothing to watch.” Maybe it’s because too many choices are a bad thing — and not just for me.

Years ago, I edited a book that included scientific studies on how an increasing number of choices leads directly to decreasing satisfaction. Like opportunity cost in economics, with more options comes a sense of giving up more things. In the study, consumers who had only five choices of peanut butter reported greater satisfaction with their final decision than those who had 25.

So, I recently downgraded my cable package and was surprised to find that Showtime had been available with HBO, which I was giving up. I guess I won’t miss that!

The same could be true for you and your sign company. “The Art of Omission” (see page 18) delves into paring down the things from your life and business that represent excess, deadweight and dissatisfaction. Our Brain Squad contributed a number of helpful, insightful and practical ways they have succeeded through “addition by subtraction.”

Speaking of the Brain Squad, we’re sending T-shirts like the one I’m wearing above to members upon completion of their first survey. Join them at signsofthetimes.com/brainsquad! Heck, we’re even — and only — offering two choices for the color of the shirt!

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