Entrepreneurs are very particular types of people.  They’re creative.  They’re ambitious.  And they see opportunities; not just their own but in every day situations all around them.  Predictably, those characteristics represent their greatest strength and also their greatest weakness.  Why?  Because they often can’t focus on one thing.

I just got off a conference call (organized by Edith Yeung with SF Entrepreneur) with Christine Comaford-Lynch (one of the original angel investors for Google) and she said the same thing.  She said most of the entrepreneurs she comes across spread themselves too thin.  They have a bunch of different ideas and try to pursue too many at one time.  The result is that no single idea ever gets traction because the efforts of the founding entrepreneur are diluted.

Of course, there’s something else to consider.  For many entrepreneurs, their original idea doesn’t get anywhere and they usually figure it out pretty quickly.  They do some initial business activities and recognize that their brilliant idea isn’t resonating with their audience.  The beauty of being an entrepreneur is that you can change your strategy on a dime and try a different approach.  So they try something else, and something else, and something else – until they find something that works.

I understand that process because I’ve gone through it myself.  I’ve tested dozens of different ideas and the vast majority of them fell flat.  But every now and again, you stumble on something that actually works.  So my point is that when that finally happens, you need to embrace the success and focus your efforts on that particular revenue model to see if you can scale the success or not.  If so, focus all your energy on that project and start building your business.  If not, move on to the next idea.

Once you’ve seen some success and are in the process of building the business, always look for ways to systemize the business model, allowing it to run itself eventually.  When you get to that point, you once again have the freedom to try other business models.  But if you do it too soon, you risk jeopardizing your first business by pursuing a second.  Stay focused.  Find one revenue model and focus on that until it runs itself.  Only at that point should you get back to the entrepreneurial instincts that you started with.

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