Timed Focus for Small Business Success

Many small business start-ups are crowded in between a full time job, a family and even studies at a college or university. A commitment to start a business is one of “Timed Focus”. Growing a small business by working on it in your “spare time” seldom results in profitability or sustainability.

Timed Focus is defined as a time that is devoted exclusively to the business, and it is set as a required appointment for the same length of time and the same time every day or week.

Growing a business requires a single focus to reach the single most important goal that the business wants to achieve. The goal can be broken into a series of small steps, all of which are stepping stones to the end vision. By breaking it into achievable, small steps, the rewards of climbing each step will help feed the enthusiasm required to be successful.

“Multitasking is merely the opportunity to screw up more than one thing at a time.” I agree with the author of this statement, Steve Uzzell. You can’t spend a few minutes working on your business while you are at your job or in a class.

Gary Keller, author of The One Thing, wrote “Success is actually a short race – a sprint fueled by discipline just long enough for habit to kick in and take over.” In my experience a habit generally takes at least 90 days to become ingrained into your daily life. Many small business failures are a result of not doing what needs to be done. Remember, habits are only hard in the beginning; over time, they become easier and easier to sustain.

Use the Accountability Tracker to help in the discipline process and in keeping track of the small steps needed to reach your goal.