Lessons from the Startup Front: Getting In Focus

Every day of my entrepreneurial journey I feel like a hungry, novice photographer. A panoramic, awe-inspiring landscape surrounds me. It comes at me like a 3D movie, filling my senses, at once delighting but overwhelming me with its possibilities. Captivated and confused, I am at a loss as to where to point my lens.

My method of dealing with this sensory overload, and the seemingly limitless possibilities, is to click frantically, trying to capture every scene. All the while knowing that amidst the frenzy my lens is often out of focus. But I can’t stop because I can’t yet differentiate between the prize shot and the everyday postcard pic. And I’m so hungry for that prize shot.

This dilemma has been playing out since the launch of my business four months ago. Perhaps it’s common to many first-time entrepreneurs (I’d love to know if that’s the case) but thankfully, lining up my prize shots is getting easier, much easier, and there’s two core reasons for that.

Curious? Well, before I divulge all, let’s first consider a basic business principle.

The Snack vs. The Smorgasbord

“Start small” they say.

I hear them, and it makes perfect sense. But I’m not convinced that it’s necessarily the right approach for my business.

I understand that it’s logical, but is starting small always the right path? The rebel in me wants to turn my nose up at this conventional wisdom, simply because my gut tells me otherwise. But I’m cautious enough to trust the experts, so dare I risk disobedience?

While I know I’ve got the right landscape in view, I’m now faced with choosing between concentrating on close-ups, or focusing on the big, wide panoramic shots – the kind that take your breath away and make your spirit soar.

In other words, do I build my business from the ground up by honing in on one part of this entrancing landscape and making it viable, or should I forgo the short-term viability and get the prize shot in focus?

At this point I have five distinctive areas that I plan to develop into separate business strands. These are:

#1. singles events
#2. merchandising
#3. retail of the game (for couples)
…and 4 & 5 I’ll keep up my sleeve for now!

I could liken it to having a big circus elephant sitting on my dinner plate. They say the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. But where do you start? And how do you know if it’s the right place to begin nibbling? And if I’m diligently focusing on one small area, will I miss a mammoth opportunity elsewhere?

I think it depends on the business, and in some cases is obvious, but in my case it’s definitely a contentious issue.

I always planned to start with #1 and #2, move on to #4, then to #3 and on to #5. You with me? But almost from day one, interest in #3 kept coming at me from various angles. Meanwhile, #1 was proving much harder than I had anticipated, so I figured, maybe I’ll shelve that one for now, head straight to #4 and come back to #1 later. You dizzy yet? So am I.

I’m learning to cope with jumping from scenario to scenario, and I understand that being flexible and adaptive is all part of the entrepreneurial package. No drama. But what I do find challenging, apart from how I approach each “strand”, is determining the ratio of time I spend building from the ground up compared with mapping out and going after my big picture plans. I know where my bread and butter is, but guess which one I love?

Help!…My Dining Room Table Has Been Hijacked

Once a place for the solemn practice of meal consumption, my dining room table was hijacked by the demons that possess me and converted into a drawing board. I now eat standing at my kitchen bench. (Donations of cooked meals are most welcome – please email me for my address.)

For many months I had sketches and game drafts strewn across the table, but nowadays it’s covered in butcher’s paper featuring diagrams of where I’m taking this “elephant” and how I’m going to get it there. Talk about a circus.

My favourite times are those I spend scheming at my dining room table drawing board; giving voice to my big picture plans and thinking “out loud”.

“Decisions arrived at in managed solitude have a habit of being 100 per cent right.” – David J. Schwartz, The Magic of Thinking Big.

While I know I could more aggressively promote #1 and build a solid bread and butter base, my vision keeps steering me to focus on the bigger plans first. Which, if they have the outcomes I’m planning for, will make the bread and butter aspect of the business a walk in the park. Follow me?

To date I’ve been trying to juggle both, which some days does my head in. And I fear that with so many balls in the air, I could easily lose a few critical ones. I realise that I can’t afford to ignore the bread and butter, so for now I divide my time about 40/60. Forty per cent on building from the ground up and 6o per cent on my higher level goals.

Pot Luck

Given my incessant juggling, right now I have numerous pots simmering nicely – the contents of which are rather tasty. I won’t say too much now, lest I spoil the broth, but should all or even some of them come to the boil, the feast will be a sumptuous one indeed.

Of course, I can’t make these outcomes happen without buy-in from other parties. And that makes for some interesting scenarios.

As it happens, I regularly encounter some very interesting individuals who often lead to very interesting “scenarios”. I also receive some rather amazing, unexpected phone calls. Because of this, many of my lessons have centred around learning to discern between real, long-term win/win opportunities and those people who just want to get on board in the hope they can make a fast, easy buck. And it’s not always easy to spot the latter. One case in particular comes to mind.

These days, apart from discerning whether or not the relationship between two businesses is the right fit, the biggest deciding factor I use to discern whether or not I want to progress the relationship is who they are as a person. This comes through in two ways:

a) The words they use – it soon becomes clear what is important to them, i.e., whether they have values, standards and ethics, and that these matter in the way they live and do business, or if they really just want to make money at any cost; and,

b) How they treat me, other people, and our relationship – nowadays, the minute they start putting pressure on, or using pushy sales tactics, I’m out. I don’t care how enticing the deal sounds. I’ve come to realise that if they’re a problem now, they’ll be a problem later, and it just isn’t worth it. I’m not willing to potentially damage or destroy my product or brand image just because a deal looks sweet. Problem people lead to problem results.

But make no mistake, saying no to a glass of water when you’re dying from thirst is not easy – even when you know the water may be contaminated.

Dealing with these issues is a much clearer, easier process for me now, but that has come simply through some very confusing and very challenging experiences.

And in my confusion, I often grasped at anyone and anything for answers.

Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth

If you’re on the startup trail, and if my experience is anything to go by, you will seek lots of advice from many sources, and conversely, lots of people will offer their advice. I found that some of it’s worth listening to, and certainly worth chewing over, but much of it you can ignore – especially from those who have never started a business from scratch. Even business advisors will give you vastly different opinions, and that often depends on their own background and experiences. More on these guys later.

Always keep one thing in mind – no-one else can see the vision in your head; at least not in the way you can. They also can’t feel what’s in your gut. I spent months desperately seeking advice on which paths to take, how to navigate them, and in which order. Nowadays, to a large extent, I let my intuition guide me. I go where I want to go, not where others believe I should. That’s not to say that I won’t seek out advice as my business grows, but since making the decision to believe in my own navigational system, I feel much less stressed and far more comfortable with the direction I’m heading in. And, shock..horror..gasp, things are starting to work.

Getting advice is not always a waste of time or money, quite the contrary, but at the end of the day you need to learn to listen to and believe your own navigational system.

The Magic of Thinking Big

I feel certain that by continuing to focus on my bigger goals I’m also going to turbo charge my bread and butter operation. As an example of this, I had a rather ambitious promotional idea for my singles events, which unfortunately I can’t reveal the details of just yet.

Some months ago I hired a PR consultant to help make it happen, all to no avail, and then pursued the idea on my own. Again, nothing. So I stopped working actively on it, but was still quietly confident about the possibility.

A couple of months later I was contacted by an advertising consultant,
Ric Nilson, who had heard about my singles events business through a friend of his – one of my customers who had been very taken with the whole concept. Not having any further funds available, I advised that I couldn’t afford him. Then something interesting happened. Given my situation, he offered his services with no upfront charge, suggesting that we work on an honour-based system should he produce results. Need I say I was impressed? Before long Ric had lined up a meeting which ultimately had a very exciting result. Effectively, this promotion could put my business well and truly on the map.

In his classic, The Magic of Thinking Big, which dates back to 1959, David J. Schwartz expounds that, “the important thing is not where you were or where you are but where you want to get.”

“Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done, your mind will find the ways to do it. Believing a solution paves the way to solution.”

“Don’t let tradition paralyze your mind. Be receptive to new ideas. Be experimental. Try new approaches. Be progressive in everything you do.”

“Eliminate “impossible,” “won’t work,” “can’t do,” “no use trying” from your thinking and speaking vocabularies.”

The Wrap Up

The two core elements I have found for finding the prize shot/s are:

1. Belief in your own navigational system – Confidence is King.

2. Discernment – find your own system for spotting and selecting the people and the opportunities that will take your brand where you want it to go.

Although these appear very basic, they’re not as simple as they sound. Number 2 in particular – this one takes practice.

Whether you start with “the snack” or head straight for “the smorgasbord” is a decision for you to make, guided by your own sense of judgment, not anyone else’s. Listen to the advice, and stay grounded, but always make your own decisions guided by your own intuition and vision.

Had I ignored my inner voice and vision and listened to the advice I was given, the pots that I currently have close to the boil wouldn’t even be simmering right now.

One more thing…

Turn the Lens on Yourself

In order to master “getting in focus”, you really need to focus regularly on your own mindset. This is not an optional extra, it’s an essential. You probably already have your own methods, but if you don’t – find them. There’s a ton of info out there to help you.

A brilliant resource for startups is the entrepreneur.com site. Not only is it jam-packed with practical “how to” info, it’s also a great source of inspiration. As a matter of fact, while writing this post I was feeling a tad frustrated about a number of things, and just a little overwhelmed with all the things I knew had to get done. This is a really unproductive state. So I went looking for inspiration, logged on to entrepreneur.com and came across their Young Millionaire 2006 slideshow. I found myself clicking through it, and by the end felt fully charged again. Bliss. Which, in turn, inspired this section of my post! The one thing that shines through with all of these entrepreneurs is how focused and grounded they are.

6 Secrets Millionaires Know That You Don’t by Vickie L. Milazzo is another great article on their site about how to make your business profitable.

Have fun!

Other Stuff

Check out Kim T. Gordon’s article, 10 Marketing Trends to Watch in 2007.

And, for those who are interested, the World SME Expo will be held in Hong Kong over 29 Nov-1 Dec 2006. Good excuse to go shopping?!!