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An archer without a target will shoot aimlessly and realize nothing; a businessperson without focus will do all the businesses there is and end up frustrated. Have you spent most of the time in your life pursuing several things at a go without an actual goal or target, Or have you left a business for another just because you think the income isn’t rolling as estimated?
Greed Makes You Want To Kill Two Birds With A Stone.
Sometimes, the problem is not from the business but the business owner. When you don’t focus on one task to the finish, you literally vanish your strength in the quest for several others at a go. You are caught in between the dilemma of which bird to kill. Both birds will look pretty and beautiful but there’s just one chance and one stone. Many would go for both birds and end up losing everything.
Although I don’t expect you to completely agree, this is what most people do in business. Bruising the head of two birds with one stone sounds figuratively and connotatively possible. However, have you ever considered what it looks like to kill two birds in reality with one stone? 90 percent impossible.
So why do people keep repeating this mistake? They take an ideology that is meant for figurative speeches and apply it to their lives and businesses. Achieving two tasks at a go is only possible and applicable to very few activities like the daily chores at home or office. Not your career and business.
Focus brings out the best in you and quickly directs you to your fortune. Avoid the temptation of catching all the birds at once and you will flourish.
They Tried To Kill All the Birds
John C. Maxwell shares a wonderful hunting adventure in his book, “Talent is never enough” republished as “Beyond Talent.” He recounts on an adventure he and a friend had in Buenos Aires of Argentina. The Buenos region of Argentina is known for the uncountable number of doves that parades over the air almost constantly. So, they went dove hunting.
While they stood and watched, thousands of birds will fly past them in so much that the cloud was almost black with them. He and his friend shot freely with the thought, “well, since the air is filled with these black creatures, it won’t matter where we shoot, we’ll certainly kill one.” Tragically, they spent almost two hours shooting and sweating, and you know how many birds they caught? None.
When a man abhors his sense of focus, he loses his fortune.
If you really want to be successful in business, there is one important thing to do. Take a record of all your ongoing business projects, analyze them critically on the basis of your scale of preference. Note that this should not be in determined by which business produces the highest income but on that which defines your true passion.
Take that one business apart from the rest. Begin to focus, deposit your strength and resources into the business, and take it by the horn. You will be amazed when you discover that your potential for success has become a reality.
Life without a priority is baseless. You should have something that sets your impulses on fire — a motivation. A business that you know very well and also love doing. Take it as your priority as far as the world of business is concerned. Let it be the function that determines what remaining resources there is to put into another.
Unless this function is confirmed, other probabilities and uncertainties can wait. Prioritize and focus on your passion.
Diversification should come only when the establishment of that prioritized business function is proven true.
A tree can only sit comfortably on a solid root. When the root is not established, the outer growth suffers uncertainty. Being the jack-of-all-trades and master of none doesn’t seem like what the pros do. I have discovered that they focus on establishing the root business, they give it all they’ve got, sometimes they feel like they should give up, but they keep going. However, when the root is solidified, they diversify and boom it becomes a seemingly serendipitous materialization of wealth.
He Was Making The Same Mistake
Mike was very bothered about his financial predicament, so he decided to consult me. This guy was not poor he had the money but couldn’t manage it. In order words, he was experiencing the financial yo-yo effect — one day he made a huge profit and the next, he loses everything.
He Pours Out His Grief
“I have been in business for a very long time, but I can’t tell how I suddenly lose the money. I make money every day but somehow I don’t actually find that money in my purse.”
Immediately, I understood his grief. I knew what it felt like to lose everything and to start all over so, I stopped him from spilling all of it because I hated how it was making him feel.
“You are not the first person with this sort of problem, and I am personally a living experience of your story.”
Mike becoming impatient snapped back.
Mike becoming impatient snapped back.
“Why does it have to be that way,”
“Because you made it that way.”
He was just trying to let that one in when I continued.
“The problem is not your business, but you.”
Mike was a friend and I knew him to own several businesses. Perhaps, they were just becoming too much for him to manage.
Mike was a friend and I knew him to own several businesses. Perhaps, they were just becoming too much for him to manage.
“What is your focus?” I asked.
“To make huge money and build a great animal farm in my old age.” He responded hurriedly.
While that made me want to eke out a laugh, I tried so much to keep myself in check.
I noticed that Mike’s lack of focus was really costing him much. He went on to explain the businesses he did which I will not disclose for a reason best known to me. However, there was actually no focus. It was too much for him, so he found himself running around all day only to make money from one and lose it to the other. Then I advised Mike as follows:
Write a Plan That Focuses On One Business
In order words, make one business the function of all.
I have noticed that many people write a plan that contains more than one business venture. There is no focus in such a plan.
In an episode of the recently concluded series: How to start your business with little or no money, I covered a topic how to write an action plan that gets you started. A Plan can just be the pathway to success, but an action plan built on focus is a narrow path illuminated with a spotlight pointing straight at the goal and target. With this type of plan, you never lose focus. Your potential is at maximum because there is a clear view of your destination.
How Do You Teach Your Child To Crawl?
You probably do know the answer to that but let’s be a little emphatic here. You don’t sit a child and tell him to start crawling. This is what many are doing in business, and as a result, this is costing them great fortune and their potential to succeed. If you neglect focus, you get confused. When the destination is clear and there is a visible and well-written action plan that focuses on one business, you automatically get motivated to pursue and attain success.
Now here’s what we do, we sit him down, get a pizza, and place it a little farther from his reach. Immediately, his instincts becomes triggered; he automatically gets motivated to grab the pizza and so, he starts to crawl towards it.
What’s your goal? Do you actually have a target? What is your focus?
Maybe you are missing a pattern that the rich follow. It’s not about how many businesses you build; it’s about the one you build that thrives. Start building focus today by doing the following.
- Analyze your portfolio: Make a list of all venture and investments you’ve placed. Analyze these platforms based on their yielding capacities and scale of importance.
- Define your passion: After a careful analysis, choose the one that aligns with your passion. Something that drives you to action. It is that business you will willingly do for free if that's what it takes to keep going.
- Synchronize your passion with the business and career
- Pursue that one that matters and do it with all you’ve got: Start working on that segmented and specialized business platform. Do all it takes, do more research and keep the hustling to the full.
- Define what your success will look like — To grab the pizza: In order to know when you've succeeded, you should first know what success means for your business. Does it mean constantly increasing customer base, increased product sales and revenue? Does it mean good business reviews or how many branches the company has got?
- Don’t get distracted: Don’t get lost in the sea. Focus on your destination — the pizza.
- Make sure you have an action plan
- When you’ve attained your definition of success, you can choose the next plan that synchronizes with your passion, and iterate the process.
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What else accounts for business success? Share in the comments.
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