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How do you get yourself to focus on just ONE idea, and actually STICK with it?

by krzysiek
9 replies
Suppose you had several ideas, all of which are decent and lucrative. Say, 4 ideas - and 2 of which are larger scale ideas that if set up correctly, would result in a multi million dollar revenue (assuming the business idea worked).

To set these up, it's difficult because it's dealing on a more corporate level.

Or, say the other two ideas were about setting up an ecommerce store with a relatively hot product to sell. Costs to set this up are lower and the process is easier, but the returns are much lower than the two other, major ideas.

What would you do? I can't seem to reason with myself in how I should handle this, or what I should tackle first.

So, anyone else out there with several great ideas -- how do you handle what you do first, how to you get yourself to be productive instead of focusing mostly on what you should try/do first.

A bit of a random and ambiguous question, but I am sure some people are in the same position as me, or have been.
#focus #idea #stick
  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    What is it that's conflicting you? Short term vs long term?

    Frankly you have the same 24 hours in a day no matter what you do with them. So pick the project that excites you the most and work it into a winner.

    I have a dozen projects on the go at any time, but only one can be focused upon right now. So I pick the one that I'm most excited about and work on it until it's self-operating. Then I can let it go or outsource it and move onto the next thing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
    Figure out which of the 4 can make you money the fastest.
    Build the business.
    Once it has regular income coming in begin to replace yourself.
    Once it takes very little of your hands on time use that money to repeat the process with 2 then repeat with 3 then repeat with 4.

    Many truly successful people have multiple income streams. Some will have multiple companies. Others will have large companies with multiple divisions.

    Just remember you are building a business not building a job.
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    Aaron Doud - Sales & Success
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    • Profile picture of the author krzysiek
      Originally Posted by Jason Kanigan View Post

      What is it that's conflicting you? Short term vs long term?

      Frankly you have the same 24 hours in a day no matter what you do with them. So pick the project that excites you the most and work it into a winner.

      I have a dozen projects on the go at any time, but only one can be focused upon right now. So I pick the one that I'm most excited about and work on it until it's self-operating. Then I can let it go or outsource it and move onto the next thing.
      Hi Jason,

      Yeah, conflict between what I should do, essentially. I just find it so hard to settle on one idea, and really, really stick with it.

      You know what they say about IM'ers, always bouncing around to the next shiny thing. I sort of feel like that. I am really limiting my personal achievements with this type of attitude, but I just cannot seem to get out of this mindset. Always worrying about what I could be 'missing out on', if you will, by choosing a certain idea and not another.

      I believe I have a case of OCD, so I have been eating healthy for about a month now and really trying to get rid of it through a good diet.

      I have no idea how you can handle doing 12 projects at a time (albeit 1 of them is your main project). I wish I could handle a load like that.

      I think the issue is, why should I start something like an e-commerce store when the other two ideas that I have, if they work, will produce a substantial amount more profit. I am jumping the gun, trying to get up there without first taking the baby steps - I'm not sure if that's a good thing, or a bad thing!

      Originally Posted by Aaron Doud View Post

      Figure out which of the 4 can make you money the fastest.
      Build the business.
      Once it has regular income coming in begin to replace yourself.
      Once it takes very little of your hands on time use that money to repeat the process with 2 then repeat with 3 then repeat with 4.

      Many truly successful people have multiple income streams. Some will have multiple companies. Others will have large companies with multiple divisions.

      Just remember you are building a business not building a job.
      Hi Aaron,

      The e-commerce store idea would be the lowest barriers to entry (could do a lot of the work myself), so I think I might go for that. I appreciate your ideas on doing 1 at a time, and then moving on to the next one. I just worry whether by that time, it will be too late for my other ideas.

      In saying that, do you guys have any experience in approaching big corporations/companies. Obviously the process is different to how you approach or make contact with a local businesses.

      I want to get in touch with some national companies, in the same niche, and present them with a service idea. How would I go about that. Should I hire a corporate sales team and give them a healthy commission if they sign the deal (reward high enough that they would probably take this type of risk)?
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  • Profile picture of the author clarietexas
    If your idea is your Goal then you have to stick with it. And if your idea is just a idea then you usually change your idea and focus on some other idea. But it is better to make your idea your goal and focus on your Goal....
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  • Profile picture of the author Ioana11
    This is a problem, you are right ...
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  • Profile picture of the author Joshmoore
    This is extremely hard! I always think too big and I never go through with it. I think the trick is to think small an once you get that down, scale it up.

    I also think doing something you really like helps, ALLOT!
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  • Profile picture of the author markcr
    Banned
    It used to be aproblem i had until I sat down and had a talk with my-self. What started out as getting a little bit of money as a safety net in other businesses turned into running about 8 different businesses at once. Absolutely foolish! Glad I finally saw this.

    Focus on one business. In fact if you have the time to do other businesses you aren't doing it right. ONE, 100% focus. If that can't create you enough money sell it, stop it move onto ONE other.

    PLAN before you start to run it as well.

    I have one plan now to run a $25M company. No idea how long it will take but I'll get there or die trying now. It beats chasing G.AS / Ebay,SEO, C.P.A. etc for sure.
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  • Profile picture of the author markcr
    Banned
    but why Jason? Why so many? Each one will have headaches and problems. It's not just about money to me it's about the life you want. I work to live not live to work. I could never go back to running more than one business.

    Another thing is say you are a top I.M/SEO etc...you tell your clients this but you also run an e-bay/ drop shipping bizz on the side and to top it off you do affiliate marketing. How does that make you look? "Jack of all Master of ......" ?

    This is your typical unfocused I.M these days though.
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    • Profile picture of the author krzysiek
      Originally Posted by attentionhook View Post

      Being honest with you I am trying to escape this place myself. I have one major idea that I am obsessed with but it's big, so BIG I can spend all day just thinking about it if I don't watch myself. I recently wrote a plan of attack of what I really want and how I am going to get there. Once you have it written down you might find the little, easy projects all lead to those biggies. I have just started a telemarketing company.


      First you need to make a decision. Write down some sort of plan on how you're going to get where you are going. Then every morning write down where you want to be come sleep time and right before you sleep document where you're. The psychology of just writing this down does wonders for me. I cringe at my own behavior sometimes, it's ugly stuff when you want one thing but your behavior(actions) says something completely different :confused: *stops myself from justifying myself*

      I have done internet ra-de-da forever. If you want a motivation buddy that helps keep you motivated & on track maybe we can help each other? I could do with it
      You know, the idea of writing the plan down and really breaking it down into micro-bits would make things a lot easier. I have done that, to some degree, but definitely not on a micro level - which I think I should have done.

      I will try your idea of writing down what I want to achieve, and how I am going to get there. I like the idea of writing down what I want to do for the day, and then checking back on it at the end of the day. Setting yourself some very small goals to do, which should add up to a good bit of highly efficient work by the end of the week.

      I'll definitely try what you have suggested. I'll think over the idea of a motivation buddy, sounds like a plan - but I'll think whether it's something I would work well doing, let me get back to you. Thank you for your ideas, I will be trying them out.


      Originally Posted by markcr View Post

      It used to be aproblem i had until I sat down and had a talk with my-self. What started out as getting a little bit of money as a safety net in other businesses turned into running about 8 different businesses at once. Absolutely foolish! Glad I finally saw this.

      Focus on one business. In fact if you have the time to do other businesses you aren't doing it right. ONE, 100% focus. If that can't create you enough money sell it, stop it move onto ONE other.

      PLAN before you start to run it as well.

      I have one plan now to run a $25M company. No idea how long it will take but I'll get there or die trying now. It beats chasing G.AS / Ebay,SEO, C.P.A. etc for sure.
      I definitely am not running too many businesses at once. Running an eBay store, which I am slowly pulling out of. Once my stock is sold, it's done. I also pulled out of my local offline marketing business, cancelled all contracts with clients because I felt it wasn't the way forward for me (I have set myself high expectations, which I guess doesn't always work out the best).

      I am trying to focus; so much so that I am focusing on which idea is the best, why it's the best, which is easiest to do, etc that I'm not actually doing a whole lot. Just spending a lot of time thinking, very little time doing. I wish there was a way to tell my mind, "pick one.. and we'll come back to the others later". I think diet and the foods we eat play an important role in mental clarity, which is why I am trying to fix up any issues related to that, as well as looking here for ideas/support on what else I can do.

      Thank you for your input!

      Originally Posted by markcr View Post

      but why Jason? Why so many? Each one will have headaches and problems. It's not just about money to me it's about the life you want. I work to live not live to work. I could never go back to running more than one business.

      Another thing is say you are a top I.M/SEO etc...you tell your clients this but you also run an e-bay/ drop shipping bizz on the side and to top it off you do affiliate marketing. How does that make you look? "Jack of all Master of ......" ?

      This is your typical unfocused I.M these days though.
      I don't think there is anything wrong with multiple streams of income, especially so if you have most/all of those streams running relatively automatically. But, I do realise Jason said he had 12 going on, which to me seems like a lot to have going on at any time.

      That being said, we don't know how demanding his ideas are. Maybe his ideas are ones where it's more about having to wait it out to see how things go, rather than needing to invest a lot of work and effort to get it taking off, etc. Maybe he will come back and give you a response
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