“I understand small business growth. I was one.” George W. Bush

Focus on Your Core Business – not extraneous bling

Over the past seven or so years, I have had occasion to be exposed to at least 4 attempts to start inherently the same business. Two attempts failed dismally, the third survives, but only just, while the fourth is a monumental success.

One of the primary reasons for the failed businesses when compared to the successful business is that the successful business has a singular focus to “do what we do”. All four business attempts, which I’ll write about in some more detail in my next post, were almost identical in intention, method, start-up capital, staff requirements, services offered and target customers; and yet they had vastly different destinies. For the purpose of this article, I will isolate only the principle that I would like to highlight at the moment, to the exclusion of others. This is not to say that other factors did not play a role, or even a significant role, but they simply won’t come into play here. Continue reading →