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THE 1% RULE — Tiny Decisions That 10x Your Business

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FlashSift
June 05, 2025

A SaaS founder was bleeding $30K last month.

"I'm working 80-hour weeks, but revenue won’t grow. Every 'growth hack' feels like pushing a boulder uphill."

Sound familiar?

Here’s what happened when he stopped chasing silver bullets and focused on this instead:

→ 47% revenue growth in 90 days
Same team. Same effort. One small shift.

Let’s break it down.

Visual showing 1% Rule as a shortcut through a business maze, illustrating smarter paths to growth for solopreneurs.

Skip the growth hacks: The 1% Rule gives solopreneurs a proven, compounding system to scale faster with the same effort.

💡 The 1% Rule — Your Compound Growth Engine

Most solopreneurs make one expensive mistake:
They chase breakthroughs.

The big idea. The viral hack. The “10x” move.
But real growth doesn’t work like that.

It compounds from tiny, consistent improvements.

The math:

  • 1% better every day = 37x improvement in a year

  • 1% worse every day = near zero in a year

It’s not about explosive change. It’s about compounding leverage.

Chart showing compounding results of 1% daily improvement versus 1% daily decline over time.

This simple graph explains why improving 1% daily leads to exponential business growth—while small neglect causes long-term decline.

🧠 Why Marginal Gains Beat Major Overhauls

When was the last time a business transformed overnight?

Exactly.

But micro-improvements? They’re sustainable. Quiet. Uncopyable. And they stack fast.

🔬 British Cycling used this to dominate the Olympics. They didn’t train harder. They just improved everything by 1%.

Here’s why it works for you:

✅ Low resistance – Nobody resists a 1% change
✅ High stickiness – Easy to apply, hard to forget
✅ Invisible advantage – Competitors overlook it
✅ Massive compounding – Small wins stack into big outcomes

Most founders are chasing unicorns.
The smart ones are compounding ants.

Comparison of a toolbox of overhauls versus a smarter system of small 1% tweaks for business growth.

Micro optimizations beat major overhauls—1% tweaks in systems, content, and processes unlock scalable, stress-free growth.🛠️ The 1% Audit — 5 Levers To Multiply Growth

What You Need:

  • 30 minutes

  • A spreadsheet

  • Brutal honesty

What You’re Looking For:

  • Bottlenecks

  • Blind spots

  • Compounding levers

Sliders showing 1% boosts in revenue, conversions, email, time, and retention to multiply business growth.

Boost key business metrics—conversion rate, retention, email, revenue—just 1% to compound results across your entire growth system.

1. Revenue Per Client (+1% = $$$)

Today: $2,000/client
1% Better: $2,020/client
Impact: +$7,300/year (100 clients)

✅ Quick Win: Add a $20 “premium support” upsell.

2. Conversion Rate (+1% = More Clients)

Today: 3% of visitors book
1% Better: 3.03%
Impact: +120 leads/year (10K visitors/mo)

✅ Quick Win: Change "About Us" to “How We Help [Your Audience]”

3. Email Open Rate (+1% = More Engagement)

Today: 20%
1% Better: 20.2%
Impact: +2,400 opens/year (10K list)

✅ Quick Win: Add first name + pain point to subject lines.

4. Time Management (+1% = Life Back)

Today: 8-hour workday
1% Better: Save 5 mins via automation
Impact: +20 hrs/year

✅ Quick Win: Auto-post blogs to socials with Zapier.

5. Client Retention (+1% = Compounded Value)

Today: 80% annual retention
1% Better: 80.8%
Impact: +8 long-term clients/year

✅ Quick Win: Send a 2-min voice note on client anniversaries.

Monthly revenue reports increasing from $2.1K to $8.9K from small compounding improvements.

Real-world example: Stacking tiny 1% improvements turned a solopreneur’s systems into a $15K/month revenue engine.

📊 Real Numbers. Real Impact.

That SaaS founder?
He applied the 1% Rule in just 3 places:

  1. Email subject lines: 19% → 19.19%

  2. Onboarding flow: Cut 1 step → 83% → 83.83%

  3. Pricing page: Added 1 testimonial → 2.1% → 2.12%

Results over 3 months:
💸 Month 1: +$2,100
💸 Month 2: +$4,400
💸 Month 3: +$8,900
= $15,400 in 90 days

Tiny changes. No extra hours. Just smarter systems.

Bonus stat:
📊 53% of successful entrepreneurs now use AI tools to automate the boring 1% work and speed up gains.

Cycle diagram showing the stages of tracking, stacking, and compounding small wins into growth.

Stack, track, and compound 1% improvements—this repeatable growth engine scales solopreneur results without burnout.

🔧 4 Power Moves To Multiply Your 1% Gains

Ready to stack results faster?

Here’s how:

  1. Stack improvements
    → Improve 5 metrics by 1% each week

  2. Track everything
    → Use AI dashboards + automations to monitor your KPIs

  3. Start with bottlenecks
    → Find your friction points. Start there.

  4. Compound weekly, not daily
    → 1% weekly = 67x/year. More sustainable. Less stress.

Checklist with a visual of one metric improving 1% today and compounding over time.

Start today: improve just one metric by 1%—then compound it daily to build unstoppable momentum in your business.

⚡ Your Challenge This Week

Forget overnight success. Focus on quiet, compounding wins.

Here’s your move:

✅ Pick one metric tied to revenue
✅ Find one way to improve it by 1%
✅ Implement it today — not tomorrow

💬 Then reply “✅ done” or post a screenshot — I’ll personally help you plan your next 1%.

Before You Go...

📥 Hit reply and tell me:

What’s the ONE metric you’re improving by 1% this week?

I’ll send you a personalized optimization game plan — built for your biz.

💡 Know a founder chasing the next big thing instead of building better systems?
Forward them this issue. You’ll save them months of burnout.

Until next Thursday,
— Verlens (@verlensfrancois)
Building the Flash way—smart, lean, automated.

P.S.
Next Week:
🧠 The Psychology of Instant Trust
→ Why strangers decide to buy from you in 47 seconds (Hint: It’s not your résumé…)