Brilliant ideas, new sales opportunities or a dream team; what is the number one thing that an entrepreneur needs to have in order to succeed and be a name to reckon with? Most people would suggest a great idea and a great team, and as you diversify, and then of course you would need new sales opportunities to succeed. However, this answer can’t be more further from the actual truth. The number one thing that entrepreneurs need to be successful is focus.
Successful entrepreneurs have learned this mantra through time and experience and they tend to focus on things that add value, to them and their enterprise. Things that don’t matter – either immediately or in the longer run, is tuned out.
Founders often task themselves with multiple tasks and ideas which can become a distraction to the goals they set out to achieve. The trick is to exclusively focus on only tasks that matter.
However, that is easier said than done but with persistence and practice, one can train their mind to focus on the important things, and not give into distractions.
Learning to Focus
The burning question is – How do we know that we are focusing on the right thing and most importantly, how to stay focused? One quick way to ascertain this is to define a vision and mission statement for your enterprise.
● Ask yourself – what are the top three things that your venture needs in the short, medium, and long term to be successful?
● Once you have the answer, rank it in order of priority.
● This becomes mission-critical vision for you and your team. Communicate the vision to your team and make it visible throughout your organization, so that everyone on your team shares your focus and vision.
Stop Multitasking
Mostly, people focus on multiple things/projects at the same time and their excuse is that, “What if the main plan/project fails? I need something to fall back upon.” Hence, they divide their attention and focus on two or multiple projects simultaneously and most often than not, the end result is that the main project does fail. Experts say that if you are worried that your project ‘might’ fail, then in all probability, it would.
Successful entrepreneurs like the flamboyant Richard Branson didn’t spearhead Virgin Records to dizzying heights, while also working on Virgin Mobile and Virgin Airlines. Bill Gates wasn’t leading Microsoft to its peak, while also nurturing other businesses.
Key Attributes for Entrepreneurial Success
● Single minded focus: New ideas come naturally to entrepreneurs; they are constantly thinking of doing things better and building better solutions. But if you want to be wildly successful getting your idea off the ground then put all your efforts into that one idea.
● Be Involved Totally: Invest and build a business of the things that you know well and love. There is no point venturing in a business of which you don’t have a clue. It is important to be passionate about what you are doing!
● Pitch Your Business to One and All: It is very important to network and be pro-active about your business all the time. You never know, when an opportunity might come knocking.
● Be Aware of Your Strengths and Weaknesses: It is very important to know where your strengths lie and even more important to know about your weaknesses, so that you are not caught off-guard.
● Walk the Talk: Action is the name of the game! People are impressed by how you act, instead of what you promised them. Don’t exaggerate ground realities and the hard truth. It is always better to be honest, not only to yourself but to your team and clients as well.
● Technology is Your Friend: In this age of technology, entrepreneurs have a number of allies to help them succeed, such as gadgets, which help them to stay connected at all times and of course various online tools, which can streamline many different daily business practices. Use them to your advantage and stay ahead of the competition.
In conclusion, the key your entrepreneurial success lays in staying focused on your idea and turning it into a reality. Often times, startups fail not because they did not work hard enough, they fail from working on wrong things.
About the author
Owen Andrew is a tech writer and multimedia enthusiast based in Southern California who has spent several years writing for publications both in print and on the web. When he’s not writing or editing the work of his close peers, he enjoys attending EDM concerts, hanging with his children and looks forward to the Comic Con and E3 conventions every year.
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Image credit goes to Mark Hunter. Thanks for letting us use this awesome photo.
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.