What is the secret to financial success for a company?
I am often asked this question by small businesses owners I work with. This is of course a tricky question to answer as there could be many ways to answer it. When pushed to give one answer, the best answer I always offer is “Focus”. Focus and concentration on your greatest opportunities and areas of highest profit potential are important keys to financial success in business.
I have been a believer in Focus ever since I read the book titled Focus, by Al Ries nearly 25 years ago. Although the examples of companies that he uses in the book are outdated now, the core concept of focus still applies today.
Focus allows you to concentrate your resources on the most profitable potential customers for your business. It also allows you to make the most of your more profitable products or services. Although this concept of concentrating your resources is easy to appreciate, unfortunately too many businesses scatter their resources in their attempt to grow.
This idea of focus and concentration was also brilliantly covered many years ago in Jack Trout’s book The Power of Simplicity. In the book Trout states, “One of our biggest business problems is that we offer too many products and services at too many different price points, to too many customers in too many markets.”
Ask yourself some of these questions when thinking about you business
- What are your most important products and services today?
- What could they be tomorrow?
- How can you focus these products and services toward your best prospects and customers?