In HBO’s documentary “Becoming Warren Buffett”, there’s a scene where Buffett and Bill Gates were both asked to write down on a piece of paper the one thing that they each felt contributed most to their success. Surely enough, Buffett and Gates had written the same word down on their respective papers: Focus.
Now, when I talk about “focus”, I don’t claim to know how to avoid multitasking or how to ignore distractions like social media, news, politics and other noise that gets in the way of productivity. I could use a lot of help there.
But what I’ve done successfully and what I will discuss is how to focus your business.
As far as I know, they don’t teach a lot of this stuff in college. (I can’t be 100% certain, as I didn’t spend much time there before dropping out). I spent the first 10 years of emagine’s history kind of flailing – trying to be everything to everyone, anything to anyone. I managed and did fine, but only once I started to focus did the business take a significant turn for the better.
I will cover the importance of (and how to) focus on:
- Your strengths
- Your core markets/industries
- A core technology/platform (presumedly WordPress)
- The clients you already have who help – not hurt – your business
- The types of projects that are profitable for you (stay within your wheelhouse)
- The path to achieving your goals (without getting distracted by day-to-day challenges)
- Working with the right People
- Working on your business, not in your business
- Your life. Health. Relationships
- Your numbers
- Your differentiating value
- Your long-range vision
Sounds like a lot I know. And it is.
But it’s really not that hard. And once you can confidently say that you’re laser-focused on everything I’ve outlined here, trust me when I tell you that you’ll have dramatically improved your business, your earnings and your lifestyle.