Investment Playground.NET

Entrepreneurs, by definition, have creative and active minds. A blessing and a curse.

Right now - I’m working on seven different projects, some of them with mid term horizons, others very long term. How on Earth am I supposed to get seven things done in my spare time? I spend all my daytime hours working on ultimately dead-end corporate position thinking of what to do, and don’t spend nearly enough time doing them! What’s an entrepreneur to do?

There’s no easy way out of this dilemma. I officially declare this moment as GO moment. This is my own GO advice for those people who share my plight:

1. Focus. Forgive me for overstating the obvious - but trying to focus your attention on seven different avenues results in zero efficiency and even less results. I know - it’s hard to pick and choose - and further its easier to distract yourself than not to. If one of your several enterprises is a time-sensitive matter, prioritize that first. Don’t prioritize based on income potential - a definite no-no in the world of business. Pick one or maximum two projects and see them through to the end, or until you turn over ownership to someone else. And then start over with a new one. People like us will never tire of building/creating/designing/selling etc. So don’t worry - more ideas will come soon.
2. Be consistent. We’re all busy people. The key is not to wait for that Saturday morning where you can sit down for seven hours and bang out a business plan. Don’t try - that Saturday will never come. The key is to be diligent and active in merely sixty minutes per day, or less. Even a half hour of prime productivity daily is over three hours a week, and it barely forces you to sacrifice other meaningful things of your life (such as spending time with family).
3. Make those around you understand your sacrifices. If you’re like me - even five minutes away from your family makes you squirm. So the best thing to do to set up your one hour daily or whatever it is you decide is to develop a support team around you. Have a sit down with the family, tell them your ideas and more importantly your process plan. Have them understand the potential results with only x minutes per day. Once you get them on your side - they’ll be pushing you to work harder.
4. Save money. This goes without saying. For every person - saving money regularly is a necessity. But that goes double for those trying to invest. Saving money for future overhead should be done at the same time of developing your process plan. Don’t wait until your plan looks bulletproof and then sheepishly say “Great. Now all we need is money.” No - that’s how wannabe entrepreneurs end up working for the man for their whole life. Consider the money saved as income the business is already making (but not for accounting purposes).
5. Make your plan your business. Meaning - the one idea you’ve decided to stick with - you’ve got to live, eat, and sleep this idea. When you wake up in the morning, you should be running over to your notepad to jot down the great night full of plans you came up with. When you’ve got a dinner party to attend - make it your business to talk to others about it. Not the actual idea - don’t give away secrets. But the general framework/industry/customer perception or whatever you need to get the creative juices flowing. When you watch TV - think about how your entrepreneurial venture can help out each one of those people on the screen there - the celebrity, the guy in the commercial, the high school kid, the milkman, - whomever. Develop your market. Bottom line - constant focus and making your plan all about your presence is in itself time spend building.

Be resilient and dedicated beyond anyone you’ve ever met. And get used to it - entrepreneurs enjoy GO more than they enjoy the finish line. It’s the challenge we crave.