THE HIDDEN REASON AMAZON TOOK OVER THE INTERNET (AND 10 WAYS IT CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS)

In the early days of the internet, no one could figure out how to actually sell something online. We had static sites, but no real commerce happening.

Even once they “figured it out,” spending money online still felt hard and risky. Every checkout felt like airport security: take out your wallet, set your laptop aside, shoes off, belt off, fill out the form, and please… don’t miss a field or you’ll be sent back to the beginning.

Then Amazon did something quietly radical. It didn’t add another page. It removed one.

“1-Click Ordering” sounds almost dumb in its obviousness. Save your address and card once. From then on, buying is a single, irreversible decision: click. Amazon filed the patent in 1997; it was granted in 1999. Apple licensed it for the Apple Online Store in 2000 because ease was a competitive advantage, not an aesthetic choice. Simpler meant faster. Faster meant more purchases. The idea was so valuable, Amazon walled it off with a patent for nearly two decades.

Cornell researchers found that after customers adopted one-click checkout, their spending increased on average 28.5% over prior levels. One simplification made buying easier, and easier is where revenue lives.

We assume sophisticated growth comes from sophisticated systems. But again and again, outsized results come from a very old play: reduce friction and watch momentum do the heavy lifting.

What if the problem isn’t that you need a better plan? What if it’s that you need one less step?

There’s a paradox at work. The more important something feels, the more complex we make it. We are allergic to the idea that big outcomes might be unlocked by small, simple shifts. We pad our days and our decisions with complexity because it feels like protection—more inputs, more tools, more options, more meetings, more… everything.

But the cost of complexity is quiet and brutal: extra time, extra switching, extra confusion, extra dollars lost to delays and rework. The real tax isn’t paid in cash; it’s paid in attention. And attention is the scarcest asset in your business and your life.

So here’s the principle we’re chasing:

Simplicity scales. In business and in life, subtraction often compounds faster than addition.

Amazon removed a click. Here’s what that could look like in your business finances:

GET CASH IN THE DOOR

Invoice immediately.

Every day you sit on an invoice is a free loan to your customer. If the work is done, the bill should be out the door. Too many businesses “batch” invoices weekly or monthly and it quietly starves their cash flow. One policy shift to “we bill as soon as the work is delivered” permanently shortens your cash cycle.

Collect when you make the sale.

Hotels figured this out long ago: swipe a card at check-in, not check-out. You can do the same. Even partial deposits change the game. That 25–50% downpayment is often enough to cover labor or materials. Instead of floating costs for weeks, you’ve got cash in the bank before you even begin.

Shorten payment terms.

Net 30 or 45 isn’t a rule of the universe; it’s just a choice you’ve been tolerating. Move terms to Net 30 or Net 15. What about this… even auto-collect on completion! Have in the contract a card is charged when work is completed. Every step down pulls cash forward and cuts the number of painful collections calls you’ll ever need to make. You’ll be surprised how many customers adapt without pushback.

Make it easy to pay.

If you only take checks, you’re making it harder for people to give you money. Add ACH, card payments, or a client portal. Even better, set up auto-pay. The more “frictionless” you make it, the faster payments land. Amazon proved it: ease = more purchases. Ease for you = faster deposits.

Follow up automatically.

Your AR shouldn’t live in a Post-it note system. Most accounting tools now let you send polite, automated reminders the day an invoice comes due. That’s all it takes to get invoices out of inbox limbo and into your bank account. One setup, permanent improvement. It’s amazing how many businesses don’t do this.

Set distribution rules.

Okay, I’ll acknowledge this is actually taking cash out of your pocket. But setting up a distribution rule that you take X% of profits as a draw as money comes in will give you more certainty about how many dollars you actually have in the account. The rule keeps cash in the business when it needs it and stops you from draining funds impulsively. This certainty gives you more confidence to move quickly.

GROW YOUR PROFITS

Kill the low-margin work.

Not all revenue is good revenue. Some jobs, products, or clients look busy on paper but bleed margin every month. Firing one bad customer can add more profit than winning three new ones. One decision to cut the deadweight resets your profitability baseline forever.

Raise prices.

You guys probably hate me for continually mentioning this, but I’ll keep doing it until raising prices is easy for everyone. Start with new customers, small scope changes, or out-of-scope requests. Those are the moments where resistance is lowest and value is clearest. A small bump cascades straight to the bottom line with zero extra work. Then test a price increase on your low-margin clients. If you lose them, no problem. If they stay, now you feel a lot better about it (and they’re no longer low-margin).

Eliminate “drip” expenses.

Subscriptions, unused software, and redundant tools nibble at profit like termites. Most owners know they should clean these up but never do. One audit of your expense list, one day of cancellations, and you’ve permanently raised your margins. Do it once or twice a year and you’ll be shocked at how much stays in your pocket.

Lock in vendor terms.

Your biggest costs are also your biggest opportunities. Negotiate volume discounts, extended payment terms, or multi-year rate locks. That single renegotiation can shift thousands of dollars a month back to you. And unlike cutting staff or slashing budgets, it doesn’t create new headaches. It’s a one-time ask that compounds over time because it “resets” your next increase on a lower number.

—

Big changes don’t always require big effort. Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is take out a step.

Amazon didn’t invent a new technology; it simplified a process and subtracted a form. You don’t need a new strategy binder. You need fewer steps between you and cash, fewer leaks between profit and the bottom line.

What’s your “1-Click” move?

‍