Minimalist Review

---
name: minimalist-review
description: Use when reviewing decisions through minimalist entrepreneur lens
tags: [decision-making, review, minimalist, business-strategy]
related_skills: [grow-sustainably, company-values, validate-idea]
---

# Minimalist Review

## Core Principle

Apply the minimalist entrepreneur framework to evaluate any business decision or situation.

## The Minimalist Entrepreneur Principles

### 1. Community First
Does this serve your community? Or is it driven by ego or vanity metrics?

### 2. Start Manual, Then Automate
Are you over-building? Could this be done manually first?

### 3. Build as Little as Possible
Can you ship this in a weekend? What's the simplest version?

### 4. Sell Before You Scale
Have real people paid real money for this?

### 5. Spend Time Before Money
Can you do this with time instead of money?

### 6. Profitability is the Goal
Does this bring you closer to or further from profitability?

### 7. Grow at the Speed of Your Customers
Are your customers asking for this? Or are you guessing?

### 8. Build the House You Want to Live In
Does this align with your values?

## Decision Framework

| Question | Answer |
|----------|--------|
| Does this serve my community? | |
| Is this the simplest approach? | |
| Does this improve profitability? | |
| Is this reversible? | |
| Am I spending time or money? | |
| Have customers asked for this? | |
| Does this align with my values? | |
| Will I still want this in a year? | |

## Common Pitfalls

| Pitfall | Solution |
|---------|----------|
| Confusing activity for progress | Always ask: does this serve the customer? |
| Building before selling | Manual first, then automate |
| Spending money before time | Time is cheap; money is expensive |
| Growing faster than customers want | Let customers set the pace |

## Verification Checklist

- [ ] Decision evaluated against all 8 principles
- [ ] Clear recommendation given (do it / simplify it / don't do it)
- [ ] Biggest risk identified
- [ ] One action to validate the decision this week