Step 1: Ground – See the Waste Clearly
Lay the Foundations for Growth Without the Waste
Ground: The First Step in GRASP
Every strong business starts with solid ground beneath it.
If you try to grow on shaky foundations, every new hire, every marketing campaign, and every decision only magnifies the cracks you can't see.
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Ground is the first stage of the GRASP Framework - the beating heart of Growth Without The Waste.
This step is where you stop guessing, see the truth, and uncover the hidden waste that's silently draining your business.
Why Grounding Your Growth Matters
As a founder... you're constantly making decisions...
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Where to spend
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Where to focus
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Where to invest your time and energy
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But... here's the uncomfortable truth...
Most founders make these decisions without truly understanding where their resources are going.
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It's like trying to navigate a foggy road at high speed. You're moving, but you can't see clearly enough to know if you're heading in the right direction - or if you're about to crash.
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That's why so many businesses end up...
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Wasting money on campaigns that don't deliver
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Burning hours on low-value tasks
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Chasing trendy tactics that generate noise instead of customers
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Missing key opportunities because focus is scattered
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Before you can accelerate growth, you must ground your business.
Grounding clears the fog and shows you exactly where waste exists so you can stop the leaks and redirect your efforts to meaningful progress.
The Goal of Step 1: Ground is Clarity
The purpose of Ground is simple but powerful...
To give you total visibility of where your business is leaking time, money, energy, and opportunity.
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When you complete this stage... you'll know...
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Where every pound is going, and which expenses are driving growth vs draining resources
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Which activities create impact and which are distractions
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How your time and your team's time are truly being spent
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Where you're missing opportunities because of inefficiencies or scattered focus
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This clarity forms the foundation for every other stage of the GRASP Framework.
The Four Areas of Waste You Must Ground
Waste in a business shows up in four predictable places.
Grounding helps you uncover each one clearly.
1. Wasted Money
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Marketing budgets disappearing without results
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Tools and subscriptions you pay for but never use
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Agencies reporting vanity metrics instead of real growth
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By reviewing every outgoing cost, you'll uncover where money is being lost... and where it should be redirected for impact.
2. Wasted Time
Your most limited resource isn't money... it's time.
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Wasted time looks like...
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Endless meetings with no decisions
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Repeating manual tasks that could be automated
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Spending hours on low-priority work instead of strategy
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Trying to do everything yourself because you don't trust others to deliver
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Grounding reveals exactly where hours are going so you can reclaim them for high-impact growth activities.
3. Wasted Energy
When you or your team are spread too thin, focus and creativity vanish.
This leads to burnout and poor decisions.
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Grounding identifies the tasks, processes, or bottlenecks that drain energy unnecessarily, so you can create a healthier, more sustainable pace of growth.
4. Wasted Opportunities
Sometimes the biggest waste isn't what you're doing... it's what you're not doing.
Missed opportunities happen when you're distracted by noise or constantly reacting to problems.
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Grounding reveals hidden growth opportunities you've overlooked, giving you a clear path to unlock untapped potential.
The Grounding Process
Ground isn't about vague insights or guesswork. It's a practical, structured process designed to give you actionable clarity.
Step 1: Audit Your Spending
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Review every outgoing cost
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Identify which expenses directly drive customer growth
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Flag costs with little to no measurable return
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>>> Use the Marketing Budget Tracker tool to highlight your wasted spend and reallocate funds to what works.
Step 2: Map Your Customer Journey
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Understand how customers discover, engage, and buy
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Identify drop-off points where potential customers are lost
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Highlight opportunities to simplify and improve the experience
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>>> Use the Customer Journey Map Template to visualise how customers experience your business.
Step 3: Track How Time Is Being Spent
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Analyse how you and your team spend each week
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Identify tasks to delegate, automate, or eliminate
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Reclaim time for high-value, growth-focused activities
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>>> Use the Time Allocation Worksheet to see exactly where your time and your team's time is going.
Step 4: Spot Bottlenecks and Missed Opportunities
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Identify where slow processes are holding growth back
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Highlight quick wins that cost little but deliver impact
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Create a list of opportunities for the next GRASP stage
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>>> Use the Waste Diagnostic Checklist tool - A step-by-step guide to ensure nothing gets missed.
Why Founders Skip This Step - and Pay the Price
Most founders rush into action because they feel pressure to grow fast.
They start spending on ads, hiring agencies, or chasing trends without understanding their current position.
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The result?​
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They scale chaos.
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They pour money and effort into broken systems, magnifying waste instead of growth.
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Grounding prevents this by forcing you to slow down, see clearly, and fix the foundations before you build higher.
The Outcome of Step 1: Ground
When you've completed the grounding stage, you'll have...
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A clear picture of where your business is leaking resources
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A list of priority issues to fix immediately
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The confidence to make decisions based on facts, not assumptions
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A strong foundation to move forward into Step 2: Refocus
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>>> If you feel that your business is now grounded... move to Step 2: Refocus →