40 vs. 1?

I remember when I was running my first online business and seeing the Stripe notifications. It would be something like this:

As time went on, individual payments became less important, and the larger picture became more important…

Today, all of my Stripe notifications ended up coming in almost at the same time. Generally, I don’t pay attention to them, however, I’ve been consolidating my inbox and yesterday, I took a look.

It reminded me of a powerful lesson that I rarely hear anyone talk about…

Attention is a powerful tool in any entrepreneur's arsenal, but not all forms of attention are created equal. Most entrepreneurs excel at closed attention—focusing intently on a specific task or goal. However, it's often in moments of open attention, when entrepreneurs tap into their visionary thinking and see the bigger picture, that they truly shine.

In the world of entrepreneurship, it's common to become deeply dedicated to a single business. Every aspect of the company demands attention and energy, which can lead to a narrow focus that, in turn, creates issues.

This hyper-focus can cause entrepreneurs to neglect key areas such as hiring the right people, developing systems, and relying on sound strategies. In some cases, this can work—especially when cash flow is tight and the entrepreneur has to wear multiple hats.

But what happens when the business is generating profit and cash flow is no longer a concern?

Entrepreneurs have three options:

1. Continue to tinker with the business and spend time on tasks they shouldn't be doing.

2. Chill and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

3. Run multiple businesses.

By choosing the third option, entrepreneurs can experience a range of benefits:

Running multiple businesses forces them to hire better people and create systems that enable the businesses to run effectively.

With multiple companies to manage, entrepreneurs simply don't have the time to focus on tasks that don't matter, which encourages them to delegate and trust their teams.

In addition, having multiple businesses generates a network effect, as connections and resources from one venture can benefit the others. This allows entrepreneurs to stay in their visionary role more often, seeing further into the future and making better strategic decisions.

Essentially, running multiple businesses transforms entrepreneurs into both investors and business owners, increasing their chances of success. By developing a series of smaller companies, they can avoid the pitfalls and challenges of running a single, larger organization. This approach also ensures a steady cash flow from various sources, reducing dependency on any one venture.

Moreover, this strategy lowers the risks associated with having all of one's eggs in a single basket. A diversified portfolio of businesses provides protection against fluctuations in cash flow, resources, and attention. By spreading their resources across multiple enterprises, entrepreneurs can mitigate potential losses and maintain a more stable overall operation.

Embracing open attention and running multiple businesses can bring a multitude of benefits to entrepreneurs. It encourages the development of essential systems, promotes better hiring practices, and helps entrepreneurs stay focused on their visionary role. The network effect that arises from having multiple businesses amplifies these advantages, allowing for more significant growth and success.

As an example, inside of The Wisdom Group, there are many people who are shared across multiple businesses…

We don’t need a full-time copywriter because if we did, we would have more funnels than we need.

We don’t need a full time media buyer, because we’d create more ads than we need.

If you tell someone something takes 40 hours, it’ll take 40 hours. If you tell someone it takes 10 hours, it might take 12.

Simply put, the majority of the time, the people and systems inside of a company aren’t actually needed, however, in order to secure amazing people, it’s difficult to just hire someone for 9 hours a week.  

By taking on the dual roles of investor and business owner, entrepreneurs can enjoy greater success than if they were to focus solely on a single venture. Building a series of smaller companies helps to avoid the common issues associated with managing a larger organization while providing a steady cash flow from multiple sources.

Ultimately, running multiple businesses empowers entrepreneurs to leverage their strengths, minimize risks.

The problem? You think you need to focus because you were told so… yet, majority of the entrepreneurs I meet have ADHD and thrive through variety. Most entrepreneurs find chaos to “fix” the addiction, in this way, you solve the novelty factor, make far more revenue, and help the world.

Until next time…

-Scott