If You Fire Before You Aim, People Die

The first rule of firearms safety is simple: never point your weapon at anything you don't intend to destroy. The second: don't put your finger on the trigger until you're ready to fire.

These aren't suggestions. They're first principles born from understanding that mistakes with weapons are permanent.

"Ready, Fire, Aim" violates both rules. And somehow, it's become business gospel.

I've spent 30+ years producing live events and designing experiences where violating first principles doesn't just fail; it kills people. Bad rigging, inadequate safety protocols, and skipped inspections are not things you iterate on after launch.

Now, as a business consultant, I'm watching the same pattern destroy companies. Founders with genuinely profitable ideas, real market demand, and years of operation are systematically imploding from the inside out. No systems. No operational integrity. No foundation.

They fired before they aimed. And whether it's a firearm, a concert venue, or a corporate structure, the result is the same: preventable catastrophe.

The Seductive Promise

"Ready, Fire, Aim" sounds bold. It sounds entrepreneurial. It promises speed without consequences, momentum without friction, and growth without the boring work of building foundation.

The core idea isn't entirely wrong: don't let perfectionism paralyze you. Don't spend six months perfecting a business plan before talking to a single customer. Don't wait for everything to be perfect before you start.

Michael Masterson's book by that title captures the appeal perfectly. His insight: "Nothing matters more than selling." He's right that entrepreneurs waste resources on perfect office spaces, elaborate logos, and excessive inventory before making their first sale. He's right that you need to validate market demand.

But the title itself (changing "Ready, Aim, Fire" to "Ready, Fire, Aim") has become permission to violate first principles. And the promise of "$100 million in no time flat" makes people believe they can skip the unglamorous middle and jump straight to explosive growth.

Sun Tzu understood this thousands of years ago: "Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."

The victory happens in preparation. Not in the moment you pull the trigger.

The Fatal Confusion

Here's what destroys businesses: people confuse simple with fast.

Business IS simple. The principles are straightforward: validate that people will pay for what you're offering, deliver value consistently, build systems that work, and grow sustainably.

None of that is complicated. But it takes time. Not because you're slow or perfectionist, but because building something that actually works requires foundation.

Think about it in firearms terms: pulling the trigger is simple. One motion, one action. But the preparation that makes that action safe and effective (understanding ballistics, practicing accuracy, maintaining your weapon, and following safety protocols) takes time and discipline.

The Navy SEALs have a saying: "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast." They understand that rushing creates mistakes, while deliberate preparation creates efficiency. The "$100 million in no time flat" promise makes people believe they can skip all that preparation. Fire first, figure out the rest later.

Fear Is the Enemy

Here's what actually stops people from starting businesses: fear.

Fear of rejection. Fear of asking people to pay. Fear of finding out their idea won't work.

The "Ready, Fire, Aim" crowd thinks structure creates that fear. They think business entities, accounting systems, and basic contracts paralyze entrepreneurs. So they tell people to skip all that and just start selling.

But that's not what's stopping anyone. It takes $300 and ten minutes to set up an LLC. That's not the barrier. Your fear of hearing "no" is the barrier. And skipping the LLC doesn't eliminate that fear; it just adds recklessness to your hesitation.

Napoleon Hill understood this in "Outwitting the Devil": "You are entitled to know that two entities occupy your body. One of these entities is motivated by and responds to the impulse of fear. The other is motivated by and responds to the impulse of faith. Will you be guided by faith or will you allow fear to overtake you?"

Here's where the "Ready, Fire, Aim" advocates get something right: faith requires validation. You need to test whether people will actually pay you. You need proof that your idea works in the real world, not just in your head.

But validation doesn't require recklessness. You don't have to operate without protection to test your market.

The right approach: Get your foundation in place, then validate like hell. The foundation doesn't slow you down; it gives you the confidence to sell aggressively because you know you're operating legitimately.

First Principles for Business

In firearms safety, first principles aren't optional. You don't skip them because you're in a hurry. You follow them because the cost of violation is catastrophic.

Business has first principles too:

Legal Structure: An LLC or appropriate business entity protects you from unlimited personal liability. When something goes wrong (and something always goes wrong), your house, your savings, and your future earnings aren't automatically on the line. Cost: $300 and ten minutes.

Accounting System: You can't manage what you can't measure. From the moment money changes hands, you need to know where it came from, where it's going, what you owe in taxes, and whether you're actually profitable.

Insurance: Scaled to your risk profile. Low-risk consulting might need minimal coverage. High-risk operations (events, restaurants, anything where people could get hurt) require comprehensive protection before you start.

Compliance: Whatever your industry and location require. Licenses, permits, and regulations aren't suggestions. They're the cost of operating legitimately.

Basic Contracts: Clear terms about what you're promising and what you're being paid for. Simple agreements that protect both you and your clients.

None of this is complicated. None of it is expensive relative to the risk of operating without it. And none of it prevents you from selling. But all of it is necessary to operate responsibly.

The Unglamorous Middle

Here's the real poison in the "Ready, Fire, Aim" approach: it makes people skip the unglamorous middle.

Everyone wants the exciting start and the aspirational end. But nobody wants the boring middle: building systems, documenting processes, creating repeatable operations, developing management structure, and establishing financial controls.

That middle part isn't exciting. It doesn't look like progress when you're in it. It's the business equivalent of chopping wood and carrying water: unglamorous daily work that builds the foundation for everything that comes after.

But it's where actual businesses are built.

I'm watching this play out with multiple clients right now. Founders who've followed the "just sell first" playbook for years. They have profitable ideas. They have real market demand. Some have been operating for over a decade.

And they're imploding. Because they never built the runway.

You can't scale chaos. You can't deliver consistently without repeatable processes. And you can't retrofit foundation while the plane is already crashing.

What Actually Works

In live event production, you aim before you fire because lives depend on it. You check rigging twice. You verify load capacities. You test safety systems. You plan for emergencies before they happen.

Not because you're cautious. Because the cost of getting it wrong is catastrophic.

Here's what actually works:

Week One: Set up your business entity. Get basic contracts drafted. Set up proper accounting. This is aiming before you fire.

Month One: Validate your market. Talk to potential customers. Make sales. Figure out if anyone actually wants what you're offering. This is pulling the trigger on a properly aimed weapon.

Quarter One: Document what's working. Create repeatable processes. Build the foundation that lets you scale without chaos. This is the unglamorous middle most people skip.

Year One: Grow sustainably. Hire when you have processes to onboard people into. Scale when you have systems that can handle the load. Build the business that can deliver on the promises your sales are making.

This isn't slower than the "Ready, Fire, Aim" approach. It's more honest about what building something sustainable actually requires.

Aim, Then Fire

The first rule of firearms safety hasn't changed: never point your weapon at anything you don't intend to destroy.

"Ready, Fire, Aim" violates that rule. It tells you to point your business at the market and pull the trigger before you've aimed. Before you know what you're actually hitting. Before you've built the foundation to handle the recoil.

The result: businesses that destroy themselves. Founders who work for years building something profitable, only to watch it implode because they never built the runway. All preventable.

Business IS simple. The principles are straightforward, the requirements are clear, and the foundation doesn't take long to build.

But simple doesn't mean fast. And confusing the two (believing you can skip first principles because they feel like they slow you down) is what destroys everything that could have worked.

Aim before you fire. Build before you scale. Get the foundation right, then move fast.

That's not caution. That's how you hit what you're actually trying to hit.