It was a rainy night in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. I was giving a lecture at the UASD (Autonomous University of Santo Domingo). Those who attended that Tuesday night were "term" students. People interested in starting their own business don't always come to my conferences. Some come out of curiosity or "in case" one day they lose their job. That "winter" night, there were just over a hundred students eager to start their own business.
At the back of the room, a student raised his hand and asked: "Don Enrique, what is the difference between an entrepreneur and a businessman?"
It's curious; but instead of answering directly and after a brief silence I said: "Entrepreneurs are not successful." Wow !!! I got goose bumps! I was offended myself !!! I have always considered myself an enthusiastic person and, above all, a stubborn entrepreneur.
Having recovered from the terror of having said that, I added the following:
“The entrepreneur is like the adolescent: restless, impetuous, romantic, enthusiastic, crazy, every day he has new illusions, better than yesterday. For the entrepreneur to be successful, he must mature and become an "adult", become an entrepreneur. Take a single business idea and marry it. Give it a hard time until it becomes a great company ”.
I'm not sure if the students got the value of the message, at the time; But I was discovering the third "secret of the proven path" followed by those who own large companies today: The power of focus.
I have spoken about that experience on previous occasions. Several times I have been asked the same thing in other conferences. I no longer get "goose bumps" and I can answer loudly, clearly and vehemently what I answered that night: "the entrepreneur must mature and become an entrepreneur."
A few days ago, I commented to the almost two hundred students who came to the conference I gave at the II Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Competitive Forum organized by the Latin University in Panama the following:
“I would have liked to be less intelligent; but twice as persistent ”.
What did I mean by that? That one quality that I have seen repeated over and over again in the most successful entrepreneurs I have ever met is their stubbornness, persistence, and focused work. Many did not have university studies, they know little about finances and little formal training in management; but they managed to create companies with spectacular successes.
Jump from one idea to another, from a miraculous product to the next, from one business to another. Even having several "businesses" at the same time, without any of them being really a company and without any really generating profits. Believe the story that we are great entrepreneurs because we are undertaking. This does not lead to success. Disperse efforts, not focus or specialize is one of the 30 worst mistakes of the entrepreneur.
And this does not only happen to entrepreneurs when they are starting, it also happens to entrepreneurs with businesses already underway, who too often change their business approaches, thinking that they are innovating, when many times what they are doing is giving "kicks of drowned.
What I want to tell you today is so important that it can mean a radical change in the way many of us do things. I would have wanted someone to yell this loud in my face in my thirties:
“Focus, focus, focus. Choose your muse. Choose one thing, dedicate yourself to it with heart and soul. Become the best at whatever you choose. You don't look back. Don't look aside. Be faithful to your muse, be faithful to the business project you choose. "
I myself walked many roads, many trails and mountains. I would have saved a lot of money and many years, if I had been as clear about this as I am now. Looking back, I have seen that it is truly one of the secrets of success: the power of focus is powerful.
Focus on this: "You must choose a product or a service that people really need, become an expert in that and offer it in an exceptional way."
If you do so, you will achieve success.
But the power of Focus is more powerful than any other skill, talent, gift, and quality.
See that the cheapest magnifying glass in the bazaar can light a fire. When you place a magnifying glass facing the sun, so that the ray of light passes through it and falls on a powerful log of wood. If you keep it in the same place long enough, that little point of light on the wood will cause it to turn into fire. That's how powerful the focus is.
The power of focus is also similar to the drops of water that, for thousands of years, fall on a stone and end up piercing it.
That's the power, the power of focus.
I have been advising and accompanying hundreds of entrepreneurs in the most diverse economic activities for almost 30 years. The most successful entrepreneurs are because of the power of focus, they become obsessive in the business they have chosen and fight to turn those businesses into empires.
A few days ago, a subscriber from the Dominican Republic, I was wondering if really a small business owner can get ahead without resources, with little knowledge and with the wind against it.
I replied: of course I do. Not because I have read it in the hundreds of self-improvement books that are sold, but because I have seen it with my own eyes.
I've seen:
- A man who distributes sand, block and stone, building a used car sales company, I have seen a man without university studies, create a very successful and profitable finance company, I have seen a man without money and without the support of his family, starting with the sale of cassava and plantain, to build a large company that exports fruits to Europe for more than nine million dollars a year. I have seen a man who had to leave his country, hidden in a boat, due to problems with the treasury and with suppliers, starting over and building a chain of nearly fifteen restaurants. To return to your country 10 years later and face all your commitments. I have seen many success stories, during all these years.
I've seen a lot of people fail. I have seen many rise up again and start over, like the Phoenix.
If what I have written so far is related to your business project, if you have not achieved the goals you have set for yourself, if you want to take your company to the next level of growth. If this has to do with you, I invite you to make a decision at this time: Starting today, you will acquire the habit of focusing all your heart, all your soul, all your ability, your talents and your abilities to a single goal: the goal. of choosing a business idea with true profit potential and stubbornly persevering until it becomes a great company that generates more sales, more profits and more wealth.
Are you focused or focused? What do you feel is missing to be able to focus as you should? From your experience, what results have you experienced thanks to those focus periods.
