My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Three Categories of Unreasonable Hospitality
A systematic approach to customer experience divided into three categories: one size fits all (improving every touchpoint for everyone), one size fits some (pattern recognition for recurring situations), and one size fits one (personalized gestures for individuals).
How It Works
Works by ensuring comprehensive coverage - every customer experiences improved touchpoints, many experience pattern-based enhancements, and some receive deeply personalized gestures. The combination creates memorable experiences that drive emotional connection and word-of-mouth.
Components
Identify and map all customer touchpoints
Find overlooked touchpoints that competitors ignore
Use pattern recognition to identify recurring customer situations
Create systems to enable personalized gestures
Hire dedicated resources to execute ideas
Measure emotional impact and word-of-mouth generation
When to Use
When you want to systematically improve customer experience across all interaction points, have recurring customer situations that can be enhanced, and want to create memorable moments that differentiate from competitors.
When Not to Use
When you lack operational capacity to execute consistently, have extremely price-sensitive customers who won't value the extras, or when basic service quality issues need to be fixed first.
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
Example
“A restaurant serves 110 people nightly. One-size-fits-all: cognac with every check. One-size-fits-some: Tiffany champagne flutes for engagements. One-size-fits-one: hot dog for European tourists who mentioned never trying one.”
Related Knowledge
Return to simplicity in hospitality and service experiences
Hospitality businesses moving away from overly complex experiences toward genuine human moments and authentic connection.
Enable systematic execution of creative hospitality ideas without bandwidth constraints
Frontline staff consistently execute creative customer experience ideas because someone dedicated removes execution barriers.
Identify and enhance overlooked customer interaction points for maximum impact
Customers notice and remember your business because you care about details others ignore.
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Rules for Productive Criticism
A systematic approach to giving feedback that positions criticism as investment in someone's growth rather than negative judgment.