I ran into a friend the other day who told me that he and his wife were leasing a space downtown and would be putting a store in. I asked him a few questions and then said that anytime they would like to sit down and talk about business I would be more than happy to help to which he replied “I wouldn’t even know what to ask.” This startled me a little bit, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that they didn’t have a clear goal in mind. Every entrepreneur needs to start with one question and then work backwards from there to figure out how to get there.
The one question is… “What do I want to accomplish here?” What are you doing and why are you doing it? Is this a hobby, is it a fad? Do you want to grow an multi-national corporation? Are you fulfilling your calling to make a difference or just trying to make a quick buck? In other words… Describe clearly and concisely what they heck you are doing, where you want to take it and why.
After you have figured that out, here are some follow up questions and hacks to keep you focused:
HACKS: 1. As mentioned above… Write down exactly what you want to accomplish and why. 2. Write down what you are willing to trade for what you want to accomplish. Economists call this an opportunity cost. For any activity, we are giving up other activities, so write down your next best alternatives and make sure you have the stomach to carry out your goals. Time is the only un-renewable resource and all the little moments added together make a lifetime. 3. Establish a definite date for when you will accomplish your goal. 4. Combine these three things in a paragraph: your goals, what you are willing to trade and when it will happen. Write this paragraph on a piece of paper and read it to yourself daily. Thoughts have a way of untangling themselves when they pass through a pen.
TIPS to get it done: Now that you have your goal in mind clearly and concisely, it is time to get started. 1. Identify what is in the way of reaching your goal. This could be lots of different things and you may not be able to control all of them, but focus on what you can control. 2. Figure out what specials skills, knowledge our talent you may need to reach your goal. The market rewards people with specialized skills, education or talent and often the more specialized or “weird” you are the better. 3. List all the people and organizations that can help you reach your goal. This may mean finding the most influential people on social media who are talking about what you want to do and building a relationship with those folks. Provide value to them… don’t just ask them to provide value to you. 4. Combine your TIPS into a plan to achieve you goal. Don’t just sit there and polish, SHIP IT and improve as you go.
The bottom line is that you need to become laser focused on how to reach your goal. This means cutting out 75% of the things that you do that don’t matter and hustling on your goal every day. Working smart and hard isn’t enough, you may need to work smart, hard and more than anyone else. This means cutting sleep to a minimum and simply getting things done!
