One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in business is something I call:
“Shoot for 90’s.”
At first, that might sound like lowering your standards.
It’s not.
It’s actually about understanding value, efficiency, and the difference between excellence and ego.
Here’s what I mean.
Most customers are paying for about 90% of the product or service.
That 90% is what they actually experience:
- quality,
- communication,
- speed,
- consistency,
- professionalism,
- and the final result.
The last 10%?
Most customers will never notice it.
And yet… that final 10% often consumes the most:
- time,
- labor,
- stress,
- money,
- and resources.
Why?
Because many times that last 10% isn’t for the customer.
It’s for us.
It’s pride.
Now don’t get me wrong — pride in your work can be a great thing. Pride creates craftsmanship. Pride pushes standards higher. Pride separates average businesses from excellent ones.
But unchecked pride can also quietly destroy profitability.
At some point, you have to ask yourself:
“Am I improving the customer experience… or am I trying to prove something?”
In our industry, a good example is wrapping behind tail lights.
Can it be done?
Absolutely.
Will the customer notice?
Maybe… if they replace a bulb someday.
Can we still deliver an incredible, professional, high-quality wrap without doing it?
Absolutely.
So why do people obsess over it?
Because sometimes we’re trying to prove something to ourselves, competitors, or the internet.
Meanwhile, the business loses:
- valuable production time,
- efficiency,
- profitability,
- and scalability.
The goal in business is not perfection at all costs.
The goal is maximizing value while protecting profit.
This applies to almost every industry.
Nobody goes through a Chick-fil-A drive-thru expecting a filet mignon experience.
People are paying for:
- good food,
- speed,
- consistency,
- friendliness,
- and accuracy.
That’s the 90%.
Now imagine if they spent five extra minutes hand-placing every fry perfectly in the container.
Would it technically look better?
Maybe.
Would customers care enough to pay more for it?
Probably not.
But the line slows down.
Labor costs rise.
Customers wait longer.
And the business becomes less efficient.
That last 10% wasn’t excellence.
It was ego disguised as excellence.
The businesses that win long term understand something important:
Perfection doesn’t scale.
Systems do.
The best companies focus relentlessly on the things customers actually value while eliminating unnecessary friction and wasted effort.
And honestly, some of the best lessons I’ve learned came from studying both sides of business:
- the jobs that felt effortless,
- and the jobs that completely fell apart.
When a project goes smoothly, I ask:
“How do we create more experiences like this?”
When a deal becomes stressful and unprofitable, I ask:
“What actually went wrong here?”
Most of the time, the answer isn’t quality.
It’s inefficiency.
Poor systems.
Overcomplication.
Or chasing perfection in places that didn’t matter.
That’s why I believe one of the most important skills in business is learning how to identify your unnecessary 10%.
Ask yourself:
- Would the customer notice if this disappeared?
- Does this improve the experience or just feed pride?
- Is this creating value or simply consuming resources?
Because your biggest profit leak is usually hiding in the work nobody asked for.
And the businesses that survive long term aren’t the ones doing everything perfectly.
They’re the ones doing the right things consistently.