Staying Focused on Business Goals

I read an interesting post on The Challenge of Staying Focused in a Startup over on the Instigator Blog. Staying focused has always been a sticking point for me, like a lot of entrepreneurs I am seduced by ideas. I often spend hours deliberating new ideas and new ways of doing things, while spending a lazy afternoon mulling over ideas with friends in a bar is fun, it isn’t a productive use of a startup founders precious time. This particular point really resonates with me . . .

The big risk? Running in every direction, chasing every lead, idea and opportunity only to realize at the end that you’ve made very little progress.

Having true focus and prioritising tasks is of up most importance, particularly in the early stages of a company. Taking time to develop a plan that covers milestones and targets can be very beneficial at motivating you to stay focused.

Another piece of golden advice . . .

Opportunities that take too long to materialize are bad opportunities. Startups don’t have the time - especially right out of the gate - to spend long periods of time in negotiations or chasing leads.

In previous ventures I have fallen foul of this, spending time I should of focused on other areas I spent “chasing rainbows”.

Investors really notice focused entrepreneurs, of course they want to see creative risk taking and enthusiasm, but back that up with solid focus and you are on to a winner.

I will be exploring techniques for staying focused in future posts, in the meantime take a look at The Challenge of Staying Focused in a Startup