You Can't Bring More Than One Bat to the Plate

Entrepreneurs are known as crazy people running around with ADD. They jump from one idea to the next. They cannot pay attention to details. They are hyperactive and get distracted easily. They find it hard to concentrate. As with most stereotypes, there are elements of truth to this perception.

However, I've known few entrepreneurs who end up successful and are truly unable to concentrate on one idea. Unless you're lucky, it takes years and not quarters to build a valuable company. And because it takes an effort of endurance, there is very little room for distractions or significant side project. Not if you plan on building a serious company that stands a chance of being bigger than you are.

There is a conceit amongst would-be entrepreneurs that they are "serial" entrepreneurs. They assume they can have brilliant ideas and execute flawlessly one after another. Really? It is hard enough to have one great idea and see it through the finish line. Most self-described serial entrepreneurs are just lining up a few so-so ideas to give them the excuse to quit early and move to the next scheme.

The bigger conceit comes from those who call themselves "parallel" entrepreneurs. They assume they can have several breakthrough ideas and execute flawlessly on them all at the same time. As Warren Buffett explains, diversification is a recipe for mediocrity and careful concentration is the likeliest way to hit homeruns.

If you've hit a homerun through concentrated effort on one great idea, by all means, be a parallel entrepreneur. I'm assuming you have enough money and people to delegate details to. If you're just starting out on the road of entrepreneurship, focus. You don't get to swing and miss too often before you end up having to take a job and disappearing into the anonymous fog of corporate drudgery.

Comments

[kachwanya]

Great post. The highly successful fellows around the globe probably identified themselves with one specific path. Some of them had high focus or concentration to a level it could be called obsession. Well at the end the rewards is handsome and out there for all to see Then there is a time when one finds himself or herself on the wrong lane...yeah what next for such a situation? ..change course may be

[Richard Merrick]

This is a great post, and right on the money. I suspect there's an equal argument surrounding which ideas to focus on, and also when to get out of the way. Entrepreneurs ideas are often like ristretto coffee. Consume too many and you'll end uo dancing on the window ledge