Debbie Lutze and I were having one of our many coffee chats when she shared a concept that refined my business vision.  She told me that friends are like a poker hand, you only have room for about five true friends.  The concept is quite simple.  If you are building a deep, lasting and meaningful friendship with another person you can only do this by investing significant time with them.  Because we have only so many hours in a day we are restricted to the number of people we can call true friends.  I suspect the actual number may be closer to three.  As is my custom, I drew a business concept from this conversation and refined my thinking about business relationships.
 
Early in my growth as a business owner I realized that I was unfocused and random in my selection of who I chose to spend time with.  I would sit with anyone, anytime to discuss business.  The results were a lack of paid work and very shallow relationships.  Over the years I have refined this thinking, and my behavior, to minimize wasted time and effort.  This latest refinement is a concept of “Threes”.  What this means is that I have chosen to fill my business with groups of three critical, key relationships in major categories. 
 
Here is how it works.  I look for only three key business partners, associates, referral partners, etc.  This simple change allows me to focus more time and energy on these limited number of relationships.  My desire is to afford myself the time necessary to build deep relationships with each key person so we can benefit each other in a more significant way.  The side effect is a lowering of stress and time away from home as well as increased business activities.
 
I challenge you to find the number that meets your needs and allows you to fill your life with people that will work with you toward mutual success.