Laser-sharp focus

An entrepreneur friend  reached out and said he’s facing struggles with his business. I offered to brainstorm solutions with him.

We ended up having an 87 minute long conversation ranging from our various philosophies towards life, how we both think about Entrepreneurship vs MBA, how the world has changed due to Coronavirus, our good fortune for not facing the worst of it (which unfortunately the economically disadvantaged face).

Eventually we got to the crux of our discussion. His struggling marketing consulting business.

As I talked to him, I realised he was facing the same problems most entrepreneurs (including myself) face early in their journeys.

The lack of laser-sharp focus.

Here’s an exercise.

Business A - We help you grow your business using growth marketing. We will create a marketing strategy around whichever channel you need.

Business B - We help grow your early-stage SaaS business using written content. We generate signups by writing relevant content on your blog that speaks to your customers.

Which business is going to have an easier time getting customers and taking off?

The answer is B. Here's why.

When you read the line about Business A, you can’t really pinpoint WHO they serve and WHAT value they deliver to them.

Business A is vague.

Whereas for Business B, you can say exactly WHO (early stage SaaS businesses) and WHAT (get signups from content).

Business B is laser-sharp focused.

Focus, focus, and then focus some more. Because being vague could kill you(r business).

Which business are you running?