My wife has told me for some time that I need to work on one thing at a time. The last couple of weeks have shown she is absolutely correct.
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I really enjoy teaching, and I consider educating my clients as one of my core strengths. I am giving a series of workshops this week, and I have taken considerable time away from some of my other pursuits. It hasn’t been easy, but this series of seminars has helped me realize the importance of doing one thing extremely well at a time.
In a recent At the Whiteboard video, I discuss how important it is to be in several places at once. The only way to really do this is to create scale in your business where you are providing value for more than one person at a time. When we bounce from project to project, we are merely freelancing and not building an asset of any value. I am seeing this with my own business as well as with one of my clients. We are doing a lot of individual work, but we have a very finite resource – time. We have both realized the importance of creating ways of earning a living that do not always require our direct involvement.
Starting a service-based business can be very easy. If you have a skill others value, you can provide that skill and be paid for it. Sooner or later, you will want more time freedom and not want to rely on constantly marketing yourself to others. You will want to find ways to build your business to where you have what Tim Conley of Foolish Adventure calls Time, Income, and Mobility freedom. In a recent Foolish Adventure podcast, Tim’s guest John Turner of SeedProd.com discussed how he turned his skill into a business with products. In order to really escape the time for money trap, we need to find ways to turn our skills into products or services that reach multiple people.
Here comes the hard part – you can only really focus on one big idea at a time. This can be hard for people who actively dream of ideas, but a good idea is nothing without great execution. It takes discipline, but it’s better to focus on one product idea and make it great than dabble in several mediocre products. I’m actually working on this with a review course I’m teaching right now. I currently teach the review course via live webinar on Tuesday nights, but that is very hard on my family. I am starting my product journey with a video version of my live instruction course. I have several other ideas for products, but they will wait. I want this product to be outstanding and create demand for my other products.
Creating products and services to reach many people is how you can escape the time for money trap. How will you start to focus on that one great idea? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
