One of my favorite topics from grad school is quietly making a comeback: the 80/20 principle. The two things I hear most in my DMs are "Holly, I don't have enough time" and "Holly, I can't find enough customers." The 80/20 principle answers both.

What if you already had exactly what you needed?

Let me explain.

The 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, says that 80% of your outcomes result from 20% of your inputs. In business, the goal of the 80/20 rule is to find the inputs that are most productive and make them the priority.

Why does that matter? Think of it this way:

• 80% of your results come from 20% of your focused effort.
• 20% of your customers bring you 80% of your revenue.

The key to following the 80/20 rule is identifying the roughly 20 percent of your actions that lead to the most success. This applies to any area of your business and your life.

How often have you said you want more time? Or more money? This principle is a proven way to create exactly that: focus on the top 20% of your activities, and the results follow.

What is the 80/20 principle?

The 80/20 principle is the idea that a small share of your inputs drives the majority of your results. It is named after Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist who noticed that about 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the people, and then saw the same lopsided pattern show up nearly everywhere he looked.

The numbers are not magic, and they are not always exactly 80 and 20. The point is the imbalance. In almost any business, a handful of things create most of the value, and a long list of other things create very little. Your job is to find the vital few and protect them.

Why the 80/20 rule matters for your business

Being busy is not the same as being productive. That one line is the whole reason this principle matters.

When you run your business through an 80/20 filter, three things happen:

• You find the work that actually moves the needle, so you stop pouring hours into tasks that barely matter.
• You spot the source of your problems, because the same lopsided pattern shows up in what is not working.
• You get time back and grow revenue at the same time, instead of trading one for the other.

How to apply the 80/20 principle to your time

Start here, because it is the fastest win. When you sit down to work, ask one question before you begin anything.

Ask: is this a top 20% task?

In plain terms: is this a needle-mover? Will it lead to more impact, revenue, or freedom? If yes, it goes first. If no, it waits.

Here is a real example. I am writing this blog post on a Saturday morning. I had two things on my list before my kids woke up. One was to order them new spring shorts (nothing fits, and when you have twins, everything sells out). The other was to write this post.

Which one is the needle-mover? The blog post. It creates content for the whole business, which eventually brings in clients. It would have been much easier to sip my chai at 6am and browse Old Navy, but that is not a needle-mover, so I wrote the post first. The shorts can wait until later.

Do your needle-movers first

20% of your time, and how you spend it, gives you 80% of your results. So ask the question before you start anything: is this going to move the needle? If it is not, make sure your needle-movers are done first.

Applying the 80/20 rule does two things at once. It helps you hone in on the work that creates your biggest wins, and it helps you spot the real cause of a problem or a lack of progress.

Do you love these tips? Take the Productivity Personality Quiz to get a Netflix-style binge-worthy resource list to help you find your focus, customized to you.

How to apply the 80/20 principle to your customers

Here is another spin on the Pareto Principle, and it is the one most people miss. Repeat customers generate revenue far more efficiently than one-time buyers, and about 20 percent of your customers are usually responsible for 80 percent of your sales.

So along with auditing how you spend your day, take a closer look at your best customers.

Run a client care day

This is a needle-mover. It serves your best clients better and it makes you money. I block a "client care" day, or even just an hour, to make sure I am serving my best clients as well as I possibly can.

Create an offer just for current clients

We are here to make money, that is the whole point. But what if you could make money and feel great at the same time? Look at what your current clients need and build for it. I keep a secret menu of offers for my private and mastermind clients, fully customized to them and what they are working on.

Make your customer service stand out

Customers today want good and fast. There is almost no patience left in the world, so when you add genuinely great service on top, it is gold. You stand out automatically.

Think about why you like Amazon. It is good, and it is fast. Apple is the same, extraordinary and fast, though not cheap. People happily pay for the experience. Make it known that you are worth working with, and make the experience amazing for the clients already with you. Chances are they refer you, and everyone benefits.

Your 80/20 audit

Here is a simple audit to find your 20%. Run it on your tasks and on your customers. Copy it into a doc and fill it in.

Task audit. List your recurring weekly tasks, then mark each one.

Customer audit. List your clients by revenue, then look for the pattern.

• Who are the top 20% of customers by revenue?
• What do they have in common? (industry, offer, how they found you)
• How can you get more of them, and serve the ones you have even better?

That pattern is your roadmap. Do more of what created your best 20%, and less of everything that did not.

Common ways people get the 80/20 rule wrong

A few traps to sidestep:

• Treating it as exact math. It is a guide, not a formula. The ratio might be 70/30 or 90/10. The point is the imbalance, not the numbers.
• Using it to dodge the boring work. Some low-glamour tasks still have to happen. 80/20 is about priority, not permission to skip everything you dislike.
• Only cutting, never doubling down. The magic is not just dropping the 80%, it is pouring more into the 20% that works.
• Forgetting to reassess. Your vital 20% shifts as your business grows. Check it every quarter.

Here's how to start using the 80/20 principle

1. Before any task, ask: is this a needle-mover?
2. Do your top 20% tasks first, before the busywork.
3. List your customers by revenue and find the top 20%.
4. Block a client care hour for your best clients this week.
5. Create one offer just for your current clients.
6. Reassess your 20% at the start of each quarter.

Anytime I can get time back and make a bigger impact, I am in. This is a genuinely simple method you can start using today. Strategy does not have to be complicated. It just has to be useful.

Put your 20% to work with a room full of women doing the same

Want help spotting your real needle-movers and building your business around them? That is exactly what we do inside the Strategy Lab in the Crush the Rush Club, where I help you focus on the 20% that grows your revenue and drop the busywork that does not. Come join us. 💛

XO, Holly

Frequently asked questions

What is the 80/20 principle?

The 80/20 principle, also called the Pareto Principle, is the idea that roughly 80% of your results come from about 20% of your inputs. It is named after economist Vilfredo Pareto, who noticed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population, then saw the same lopsided pattern almost everywhere. In business it means a small share of your effort, customers, and offers drives most of your results. The exact ratio varies, so the takeaway is not the numbers but the imbalance: find the vital few things that create most of your value and give them your best time and attention.

What is an example of the 80/20 rule in business?

The clearest example is that about 20% of your customers usually generate around 80% of your revenue. Instead of constantly chasing new leads, you look at who your best customers already are, find what they have in common, and do more to attract and serve people like them. The same pattern shows up in your tasks: a handful of activities, like creating content, nurturing your email list, or taking sales calls, drive most of your growth, while a long list of smaller tasks barely move the needle. The rule tells you to protect the first group and minimize the second.

How do you use the 80/20 rule to manage your time?

Before you start any task, ask whether it is a needle-mover, meaning it leads to more revenue, impact, or freedom. If it is, do it first, before the busywork fills your day. If it is not, it can wait or be delegated. The goal is to spend your best hours on the 20% of tasks that create 80% of your results, rather than staying busy with low-value work that feels productive but changes very little. Reviewing your task list this way even once a week will quickly show you where your time is actually going.

Is the 80/20 rule always exactly 80/20?

No, the numbers are not a strict formula. The split might show up as 70/30, 90/10, or something else entirely. Pareto's insight was about imbalance, not a fixed ratio, so do not get hung up on hitting exactly 80 and 20. What matters is recognizing that your inputs and outputs are rarely balanced, and that a small portion of your effort, customers, and offers is doing most of the heavy lifting. Once you accept the imbalance, you can find your vital few and lean into them.

Keep reading

Start with the full guide: How to Run Your Business in Part-Time Hours.

If this one helped, here is where to go next:

• How to Identify the High-Impact Activities Growing Your Business
• Goals vs Standards: Why Standards Win Every Time
• How to Find 2 Extra Hours in Your Day

Want a business that runs in 8 to 10 hours a week?
That is exactly what we map out in CEO Week, my free training on running your whole business in part-time hours, no social media required. Come join us.

Not sure what to focus on next? Take the quiz and I will point you to your next move.