Do I better focus on one thing at a time?

[genesisk5]

what do you guys do when you have multiple business ideas or
another one comes up on your mind while working on your main?
do I better stick to one thing at a time? how was your experience?

 

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[Dallas]

I focus on what generates revenue.

I'm currently generating $160 a day for 3 hours of work.

Am I going to stop this to pursue another project? NO.

I'm going to focus on this project.

Even though I have many others, this project gives me my most desired objective: cash flow.

Once I get this project down to a system where I know I will generate $160 a day consistently, then I will begin shifting my focus to new projects to increase my revenue... But until then, MY FOCUS IS ON WHAT IS MAKING ME MONEY.

 

[aeden]

what do you guys do when you have multiple business ideas or
another one comes up on your mind while working on your main?
do I better stick to one thing at a time? how was your experience?

I write down new ideas into a big list of ideas, and then I go back to doing other things to help improve my current business.

Over the years I've been doing this, I've written down at least one "new idea" several times, so I might investigate those ideas a little further, just for fun, but ultimately I don't put to much energy into them.

I do sometimes toy around more extensively with new ideas, but that's because my business is in a place where I can do it, and usually it related to ideas that are somehow related to my business. I still try to limit that distraction to short bursts. My business is 10 years old though - I would suggest if your business is not stable and generally operating independently from you.

 

[Bobby_italy]

This has been my biggest dilemma for my whole life, I'd like to thank @GravyBoat for posting a study that shows people that tend to multi-task to be more succesfull because it made me feel a little more condifent about the way I approach life.

At the moment I have a skill which can get me paid about 100/250€ per hour, I could literally start working doing just that and make average wage in Italy by working 10 hours per month, the problem is I take very high responsabily and if something goes wrong(not impossible but still) I'd be the one prosecuted, also to find those leads I'd need to get well known outside of my area which is easier said than done, it requires a lot of trust and even if I've been doing those things for 8 years I always had my dad double check and I haven't made a mistake in a really long time.

So when I finish university, I have now 4 projects I'd like to work on but I feel so overwhelmed I'll probably suck at all of them:
-become a practitioner of the skill I'm really good at, using my dad's office I start with zero expenses and can work only when required, I estimate about 10 jobs x month so that's anywhere from 1000 to 2500 €, while also providing the skills I studied for (civil engineer) which go for around 40/50€ x hour or more if it's a consultation, my degree is specialized towards enviromnetal impact,
-start an hair care products company, very big passion of mine for the last few years, already totally emotionally invested and threw a good amoung of cash at it,
-"marketing" agency which is more like a branding agency, my revolutionary idea is to bring together a team of pros(which I did already) to cooperate on projects and atm my "team" is composed of: one of the best photografers in the area, a typography (think all printing works and gadgets on demand), a video maker specialized in using drones(I'm really good at the computing part of this which was my thesis), a virtual reality "expert" he actually works for a company that creates like virtual maps of museums etc..., I already have the name and 4 letter domain,
-Youtube, I started a channel as a complete joke, I have a lot of funny and epic videos from the past but I soon found out that quality matters a lot so I'll restrain from posting those, I really like the platform and would enjoy posting a video every once in a while even tho I'm completely aware of the fact that it isn't fastlane, I'm getting a steady 50 views per video after not even 2 weeks and am considering keeping it going, I don't have a topic and I just try to entratain.

I'd like to create more threads in the execution section but I feel like I'd just be spamming tbh, if any of those pick up I'll post about them.

So yeah getting back to the point, I think you should focus on one thing while also keeping some other things on the side if that makes sense, also an Idea is different from concrete action, at the moment I'm action faking 3 out of 4 of the above.

 

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[kleine2]

what do you guys do when you have multiple business ideas or
another one comes up on your mind while working on your main?
do I better stick to one thing at a time? how was your experience?

imo it is much better to stick to one business only.
Reasons:
1) You do one thing you are more serious and committed and more likely to succeed.
2) Switching around and moving between different "ideas" has it's own cost. Once you hit a hurdle in one idea you switch to another and that way a lot of time is waste switching around instead of focusing on something and making it happen. You also give up too soon because these are always "the other" ideas.
3) If you work on 3 things at once that each take 3 months you will finish all 3 after 9 months. If you do one first, second second, third third you will finish one after 3 months, two after 6 months, 3 after 9 months. This is without taking into account the overhead from #2.

 

[GravyBoat]

This has been my biggest dilemma for my whole life, I'd like to thank @GravyBoat for posting a study that shows people that tend to multi-task to be more succesfull because it made me feel a little more condifent about the way I approach life.

At the moment I have a skill which can get me paid about 100/250€ per hour, I could literally start working doing just that and make average wage in Italy by working 10 hours per month, the problem is I take very high responsabily and if something goes wrong(not impossible but still) I'd be the one prosecuted, also to find those leads I'd need to get well known outside of my area which is easier said than done, it requires a lot of trust and even if I've been doing those things for 8 years I always had my dad double check and I haven't made a mistake in a really long time.

So when I finish university, I have now 4 projects I'd like to work on but I feel so overwhelmed I'll probably suck at all of them:
-become a practitioner of the skill I'm really good at, using my dad's office I start with zero expenses and can work only when required, I estimate about 10 jobs x month so that's anywhere from 1000 to 2500 €, while also providing the skills I studied for (civil engineer) which go for around 40/50€ x hour or more if it's a consultation, my degree is specialized towards enviromnetal impact,
-start an hair care products company, very big passion of mine for the last few years, already totally emotionally invested and threw a good amoung of cash at it,
-"marketing" agency which is more like a branding agency, my revolutionary idea is to bring together a team of pros(which I did already) to cooperate on projects and atm my "team" is composed of: one of the best photografers in the area, a typography (think all printing works and gadgets on demand), a video maker specialized in using drones(I'm really good at the computing part of this which was my thesis), a virtual reality "expert" he actually works for a company that creates like virtual maps of museums etc..., I already have the name and 4 letter domain,
-Youtube, I started a channel as a complete joke, I have a lot of funny and epic videos from the past but I soon found out that quality matters a lot so I'll restrain from posting those, I really like the platform and would enjoy posting a video every once in a while even tho I'm completely aware of the fact that it isn't fastlane, I'm getting a steady 50 views per video after not even 2 weeks and am considering keeping it going, I don't have a topic and I just try to entratain.

I'd like to create more threads in the execution section but I feel like I'd just be spamming tbh, if any of those pick up I'll post about them.

So yeah getting back to the point, I think you should focus on one thing while also keeping some other things on the side if that makes sense, also an Idea is different from concrete action, at the moment I'm action faking 3 out of 4 of the above.

Hey Bobby!

Not sure where you got this from but I believe the opposite actually.

In fact, the only way I've ever found success, is focusing on ONE thing at a time.

Think about it for a second. Did anyone you know that is successful, or anyone you look up to in business, do it by having 18 side projects going?

No. They focused on one thing and built and built until it was A. Profitable and B. Automated. THEN, and only then, did they have the luxury to chase other ventures, work with other people, and do "side projects."

Personally, I was always the type to be working on at least 2-3-4 things at once.

"Hey man, I got this sick business idea. You in?"

I always said yes.

Before I knew it, I was working on "critical" parts for 3 businesses, and literally couldn't get stuff done because it was impossible.

Until you have a wildly profitable business that you've scaled, automated and or sold, you should ONLY focus on ONE thing at a time.

Because believe me. When one business blows up, and you're no longer in the beginning stages, you will NOT have time to do anything else. It will consume your day and your brain power. At least it should if you're doing it right. Once it's scaled and automated, hopefully automatically scaling itself (through employees doing marketing etc), THEN, you can work on other shit.

 

[NVious]

There's no right answer.

Focus is obviously A1, everyone knows this.

Sometimes though we have horrendous ideas, pouring energy into them does not work (80% of businesses go out of business in the first 5 years).

Balance or harmonize;
Pour extreme focus into one or a select few projects
Have a few small time ones that take you maybe an hour or two at most per day

Remember what your major goal is; making money, making a great product, improving yourself...and I mean this what IS your major goal not that those are, but keep YOUR major goal in mind.

Always ask yourself;
How does tie into my goal? How does this move me towards my goal? How can improve my processes?

And yes I mean literally, if you literally reflect on those once a day, you'd be surprised at the answers you can come up with.

 

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[Bobby_italy]

Hey Bobby!

Not sure where you got this from but I believe the opposite actually.

In fact, the only way I've ever found success, is focusing on ONE thing at a time.

Think about it for a second. Did anyone you know that is successful, or anyone you look up to in business, do it by having 18 side projects going?

No. They focused on one thing and built and built until it was A. Profitable and B. Automated. THEN, and only then, did they have the luxury to chase other ventures, work with other people, and do "side projects."

Personally, I was always the type to be working on at least 2-3-4 things at once.

"Hey man, I got this sick business idea. You in?"

I always said yes.

Before I knew it, I was working on "critical" parts for 3 businesses, and literally couldn't get stuff done because it was impossible.

Until you have a wildly profitable business that you've scaled, automated and or sold, you should ONLY focus on ONE thing at a time.

Because believe me. When one business blows up, and you're no longer in the beginning stages, you will NOT have time to do anything else. It will consume your day and your brain power. At least it should if you're doing it right. Once it's scaled and automated, hopefully automatically scaling itself (through employees doing marketing etc), THEN, you can work on other shit.

Thanks a lot for the answer, I just remembered you posted that study/article.
I agree that all successful people I know focused on one thing!

 

[Sanj Modha]

Focus on one task at a time. Complete it then move onto the next task.

This is how I work.

 

[genesisk5]

thank you so much guys it was really helpful.
now I'm more confident in the idea of sticking to one task at a time.

 

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[The-J]

Hey Bobby!

Not sure where you got this from but I believe the opposite actually.

In fact, the only way I've ever found success, is focusing on ONE thing at a time.

Think about it for a second. Did anyone you know that is successful, or anyone you look up to in business, do it by having 18 side projects going?

No. They focused on one thing and built and built until it was A. Profitable and B. Automated. THEN, and only then, did they have the luxury to chase other ventures, work with other people, and do "side projects."

Personally, I was always the type to be working on at least 2-3-4 things at once.

"Hey man, I got this sick business idea. You in?"

I always said yes.

Before I knew it, I was working on "critical" parts for 3 businesses, and literally couldn't get stuff done because it was impossible.

Until you have a wildly profitable business that you've scaled, automated and or sold, you should ONLY focus on ONE thing at a time.

Because believe me. When one business blows up, and you're no longer in the beginning stages, you will NOT have time to do anything else. It will consume your day and your brain power. At least it should if you're doing it right. Once it's scaled and automated, hopefully automatically scaling itself (through employees doing marketing etc), THEN, you can work on other shit.

Yea I was about to say lol, that is exactly the opposite of something @GravyBoat would say.

Focus on one thing at a time. If you're paused on something, though, no need to stop: focus on the 2nd most important thing.

 

[Bobby_italy]

I agree guys I just remember a link he posted maybe I'm mistaking him for someone else since I read so many of his posts.