It seems obvious to say it but do one thing well and you are more likely to succeed than if you do several things to an average level. There are very few people in life that we would hold up and say they were excellent/experts at two or three completely different things. So, then, when it comes to startup businesses, why do people try to spread their effort thinly?
Eric Koger of ModCloth is along the right lines. Start with the core, what is the mission of your startup. The mission can be simply put as what is the core purpose that the startup exists for. This will start broad, then as Koger mentions, keep tightening the definition until it makes it super clear what it is you are here to do (and as you do this, there will be plenty of things that you are not here to do).
Why is this razor sharp focus important? As I often go on about, in a startup, you have limited time and resource (including money), focus these resources where you will have the most impact and likelihood of success. You may have competitors with bigger budgets and this can be hard to compete with but focus on a tight mission will help you make the best go of it. Without digressing too much on niches, Harvard academic, Michael Porter wrote about different ways of (successfully) competing (for more details have a look at his book Competitive Advantage), one of which was to focus on a niche and own it.
One more thing to note, again with a nod to Eric Koger’s quote, write your mission down. Tell your colleagues, staff, and everyone about it. If you can align behind a strong mission, it will help you remember what it is you are striving to do whenever you feel you are veering off the path.
Leave a Reply