Is your business focussing on the right things?

Many problems in life, not just in business, arise from incorrect focus. This may sound obvious but its true. Even if your business is focussing on the things it should be, the amount of focus on each aspect may be wrong. For example, you may focus much more on your customers than you do on your business, and your employees or business development may suffer as a result. Below is a very “Covey-esque” Venn diagram, showing what I think that a business should focus on. Obviously these are not the only things it should focus on, but are very important aspects nonetheless. My “expert” light blue shading shows the point of intersection between the three circles.

1. Customers – Yeah, most people would put this at the top of the list. The truth is, customers are just one part of your business, and focussing too much on them may mean your business or your product suffers. A point to note: just because you like something, it doesn’t mean that your customers will! That’s why thorough market research is vital to the continual growth of your business.

2. The Market – You need to look at what your competitors are doing. However, sometimes by focussing too much on the market you want to follow all the trends that are happening. Although every business needs to be adaptable (particularly if it’s online), your product has got to have something unique about it, or it’s only price you can compete on! This will make things particularly difficult if the Industry or niche in which you want to sell has high barriers to entry. In my experience, I’ve found that it’s rarely good to follow the herd. Excessive focus on the market can be very distracting and unproductive.

3. Last but BY NO MEANS least, your business. No one with a poor business model makes money. However, people usually focus far too much on their customers/the market, or focus far too much on their business. It’s striking a balance between being responsive to the market and to your customers, whilst focussing on your business so that you can grow it and make it (highly) profitable.

I just wrote this post to prompt you to check what you are focussing on in your business. If you’re not making money is it because you have an incorrect focus in one of these areas? There’s no hard and fast rule, and every business is different. Just check that you are focussing on all of these factors in your business life. Try changing your focus and recording the results. If you’re not making money then what have you got to lose? Just a thought.

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