Focus on one core business area for your startup’s success

Business success depends on the strategies in place to help an entrepreneur achieve one’s goals. PHOTO | FILE 

By MURORI KIUNGA

In Summary

• It may sound counterintuitive, but chasing money does not help in business success and wealth creation. The more you chase money the more it becomes elusive.

Almost all personal development and business experts will tell you if you want to succeed you should focus on one or at most a few things. You need to eliminate the distractions and avoid spreading yourself too thin.

Most great companies though may have diversified over time and upon maturity, started by focusing on one area.

It makes a lot of sense to commit to one thing and become great at that thing rather than be a struggling jack of all trades, a fact that most start-ups find hard to commit to.

There is no doubt that money plays a central role almost all our life choices including the choice of the business to venture into. Whether it is overt or covert, most people are driven into business by desire to make lots of money. As such it is too tempting to resist a deal that promises to add little or more money to your core business.

It is also notable that when most people talk about a good business, they have in mind a kind of a business which gives a lot of money with least investment, is easier to manage, and carries the least risk.

Yet, obsession with money has been found to be the one of the greatest impediments of most business success.

It may sound counterintuitive, but chasing money does not help in business success and wealth creation. The more you chase money the more it becomes elusive.

The first step in building a successful business is to have money chasing you rather than you chasing it. Since money comes through people, your focus should be on people rather than on money. The more people you positively influence the more money you will have.

But as aspiring entrepreneurs or a start-up business person with so many options in front of you, how do you know what to focus on?
How do you know where to invest your money and time? In short how do you know the best business to start and focus on until you become an expert in it?

Well, this question has no definite answer but I will try to describe the way in a manner that you will find the answer within you.
Albert Einstein said: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

We are all gifted in at least few areas but we can only exploit our potential by focusing on one are that we are good at. Select one area that you feel you can excel in.

In short focus on what comes to you naturally and easily and what you are passionate about, not what promises quick and easy money. Think of the something that you can to positively influence people and people are willing to pay for it. Once you discover this, embark on a journey of learning to improve and perfect it.

Ask yourself, “What one skill, if I developed and did it consistently in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on my chosen path?”

Whatever your answer to this question, write it down and make a plan to immediately start working towards it. Never start a venture without first finding out all what it takes to succeed in it. In fact one of the key skills you need to posses is seeing the big picture and ability to assemble all the required resources.

As a business person you may not posses all the skills needed to run the business but you must have the skill of picking the right people and ensuring they are on the right seat in your bus.