1.0 Introduction

Customer complaints are perceived as negative feedback, problems, or proof that something is not working. Nobody wants (to deal with) unhappy customers.

But customer complaints are a gift. It’s free information about where your service or product is falling short. Once fixed/improved, it will increase your customer's value, even if you charge the same price.

Solving customer complaints leads to better products/services, which leads to happier customers who stay loyal longer, which leads to higher LTV and more word-of-mouth marketing.

This can be broken down into two parts.

2.0 How to get customer complaints

Most companies send a survey link at the end of an email, which is often ignored. This is a low-effort, low-result action.

In my opinion, the best approach is to ask the customer directly, one-on-one. High-effort, high-result.

Whenever you serve a customer, you have the opportunity to get feedback.

You can ask a neutral question, such as “What do you think about the product/service?” which is an acceptable question, but won’t get you too far.

A better question would be “Is there anything that you’d like to be better? We want to deliver the best product/service, and we value your opinion.”

Now you are asking for an improvement that doesn’t have to be a customer complaint, but it could become one from another customer. This improvement could also lead to the existing customer staying longer.

Keep track of this, and focus on what adds most value.

For medium-sized companies, the customer care department is where this data already flows. It’s all about capturing it and analyzing it.

3.0 Own the complaints and share the fixes

The worst way to handle a complaint is to argue, disagree, or dismiss.

The best way to handle a complaint is to listen, understand, and figure out how to solve it.

Once it is solved, share it. Use social media, email newsletter, blog, whatever your channel of communication is. Publicly owning a problem and showing you solved it builds more trust than any marketing campaign. It shows existing customers that you are paying attention to their feedback, and you are the kind of business that takes care of them.

4.0 The outcome

Addressing customer complaints and ensuring they don’t recur is one of the best ways to invest in the business.

The return comes in many forms:

• Fewer customer complaints in the future, meaning fewer hours spent dealing with the same complaints again and again;

• Stronger word-of-mouth marketing;

• Better online reviews;

• Increased lifetime value, current customers stay longer, and new ones churn less.

Most business owners see complaints as a cost. Something that they don’t want to deal with, but they have to. The business owners who treat complaints as a feedback loop end up with better businesses and better customers.

If you want help building a system to capture and act on customer feedback, or brainstorm, reach out to kosta@ristovskiconsulting.com to explore what’s possible.

Why most entrepreneurs are overwhelmed

Life doesn’t prepare us to be entrepreneurs. In school, we have a limited number of subjects to study, and each subject has a clear objective. Learn the material, and pass the exam.

In entrepreneurship, most have a clear objective: to succeed. But there is little instruction on how to get there.

Starting out, there are many hats to wear. You have to be the product developer, the salesperson, the finance master, and the go-to person for customer complaints. This complexity is overwhelming.

Many entrepreneurs wake up to a to-do list spanning every department of their company. Respond to customer e-mails in the morning, then switch to designing a new product/feature, then jump into bookkeeping, and then focus on social media marketing.

This constant context switching can reduce productivity by up to 40%.

What doesn’t work

Two go-to solutions that don’t work:

• Multitasking - You might think that doing many things at once means you are being super productive. But research shows the opposite. Doing several tasks simultaneously tends to reduce efficiency and even causes a drop in your creativity and the quality of your work

• Working more hours - I know many who compensate by working more hours. In turn, their quality of life suffers because there’s no work-life balance. Don’t forget: there’s only one life, and how you feel at work will carry over into your free time.

One hat at a time: The power of focus

The solution that works is to wear all hats, but not at the same time.

Embracing this single-tasking lets you dive deeper and finish faster. You will be able to produce better work and likely get it done in less time.

This doesn’t mean you ignore parts of the business, but you divide and conquer your roles through time management.

Think of your day or week in chunks, each dedicated to a particular hat, but keep the chunks as limited as possible; otherwise, you’ll be back to square one. A great example would be:

8 am to 9 am - I am answering e-mails

9 am to 2 pm - I am focusing on a new feature, with lunch as a break

2 pm to 4 pm - I am focused on marketing

Then, protect these time blocks.

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Use the Pomodoro technique to stay focused

One popular technique that I’ve used in the past is the Pomodoro technique.

You can customize the length of your work sessions and breaks to match your energy.

Here’s what it might look like:

Each pomodoro (working) session: 55 minutes

Short break: 5 minutes

Long break: 30 minutes (after four pomodoro sessions).

Here’s a free website that you can use: https://pomofocus.io/

Plan your day the night before

Many people struggle to fall asleep because their minds are racing with unfinished tasks and unanswered questions. The truth is, thinking about this when it’s time for your brain to rest isn’t optimal. It is unlikely to make significant progress, and you will end up tired the next day.

If something’s bothering you and feels urgent, assign it to a time block tomorrow. This will give you peace of mind for the night, knowing you have set aside time to figure it out tomorrow.

BUT, what about those of us with kids?

Planning is hard. Planning with kids is impossible.

They don’t really care about your time blocks (and they shouldn’t). So, what’s the solution? There’s a quote I like: A marathon is just one step in front of the other.

If you focus on the length of the marathon, it’s overwhelming. If you focus on taking just one more step, it feels doable. Focus on the next step.

Instead of focusing on the next day or week, make a list of all the tasks that you need to get done, and focus on the first one. It might take you 1 hour, it might take you 4. Once you have that done, focus on the next one.

Delegating

I put this one last, because most starting out cannot afford to delegate, and that’s completely normal.

But over time, it becomes an option. And when it does, start with the hats you don’t need to wear, such as bookkeeping, admin, scheduling, etc. Even a few hours a month of support (from a freelancer or VA) can free you up to focus on what matters most.

Today is the best time to be an entrepreneur.

You don’t have to do it all, all the time. Just the next thing, with intention. If you are stuck, overwhelmed, or need help with brainstorming, reach out to kosta@ristovskiconsulting.com to explore what’s possible.

1.0 Introduction

During the last week of every year, I sit down and set my goals for the next year. This is the 6th year I’ll be doing that.

Goal setting is one of those activities that everyone would agree is important, and almost everyone does poorly. Not because they lack ambition, but because they optimize for the wrong thing.

Over time, I’ve created a rule: if a goal depends on anything other than my own action, it’s not within my control.

2.0 Output goals (and why they aren’t the best way)

Output goals describe desired outcomes, and not the actions required to get there.

• Reach 10,000 subscribers

• Get five new clients

• Lose/gain weight

They are motivating, but they depend on many factors, and even more importantly, output goals provide very little usable feedback throughout the year.

Most of the time, you’ll only know if you’ve hit or missed the goal at the end of the year. You have no idea if you’re slightly behind or completely off-track. What started as “motivation” doesn’t help when you’re in the middle of the year.

Which is why I believe input goals are the way to go.

3.0 Input goals

All the output goals mentioned above can be broken down into actions to reach them. These actions are within your control. These are the input goals.

Reach 10,000 subscribers - Make two videos/posts per week.

Get five new clients - Send X outbound messages per week.

Lose/gain weight - Workout three times a week

Don’t get me wrong, the output goals still matter, but this way, you only focus on what is within your control.

You can measure it weekly and even adjust it if needed.

Do you want to read more? Input goal: Read 5 hours per week.

Do you want to meet more people? Input goal: Go to 2 events per month.

Do you want to switch jobs? Input goal: Send five applications per week.

Do you want to write a book? Input goal: Write for an hour every day.

Do you want to grow your X audience? Input goal: Write 50 tweets per week.

You get the point. In every case, the pattern is the same: define the outcome, then commit to the actions you fully control.

4.0 Final words

Find your output goals, then set input goals you can control. I have three types of input goals:

First: Family-related (These goals help me be a good father, husband, brother, and son)

Second: Personal goals (These goals help me be in good shape, physically, mentally, and emotionally)

Lastly: Business goals (These goals ensure my business is in good shape)

P.S. Do not set too many input goals. Having a few input goals for each category is more than enough.

I hope you find this useful, and I wish you lots of success in 2026!

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Approximately 20% of new businesses fail within the first year, 50% within the first five years, and 70% within ten years.

Economists and statisticians often survey the dead, seeking to understand why.

I’d argue this is a complete waste of time.

Their reports point to familiar answers:

• X% failed due to poor cash flow, and

• Y% due to a lack of market need.

But knowing this doesn't offer a map for success; it just labels the graves. You can’t build a strategy on a statistic.

Let’s take a more practical approach, inspired by the great Charlie Munger.

What if we ask the opposite question: Why do businesses succeed?

The easy answer is "they solve a problem." But this is incomplete. The businesses in that 70% graveyard were also solving a problem. Solving a problem isn't enough.

Think about the businesses you are loyal to.

Think of your favorite restaurant. It offers the same dishes every time. You know what to expect, you trust the quality, and you might even know the waiter's name.

Think of your hairdresser or barber. It's the same service, consistently delivered. You've likely been going to the same one for years.

Now, think of your gym, your car mechanic, your plumber, your electrician, your dog walker, your accountant. They all share a powerful common trait: They are the proven, reliable, default solution to your need. You have a relationship with them, built on a foundation of consistency and trust. This is their advantage.

This is who you're competing against when you start a business. You are not competing against a bad solution; you are competing against habit, comfort, and the powerful inertia of "good enough."

Your potential customers are already being served by someone they know and trust.

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So, how do you win? How do you convince someone to leave their proven, reliable solution for you, the unproven newcomer?

It all comes down to one thing: You must offer overwhelmingly more value.

Your solution must be significantly better, faster, and/or cheaper. Not just marginally. It has to be so superior that it overcomes the friction of switching.

Most businesses fail because they offer similar value to their competitors. That’s not enough.

If you are stuck, overwhelmed, or need help with brainstorming, reach out to kosta@ristovskiconsulting.com to explore what’s possible.