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Does any other entrepreneur or business owner have the same problem?

Discussion in 'General Business' started by macstux, Mar 31, 2020.

  1. #1
    Does anyone else get interested in something and then they try and make a brand/business out of it? Any tips on keeping your mind focus on 1 thing? Instead of wasting money starting all these mini projects just because you enjoy doing it?

    Would love your feed back and advice

     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 31, 2020
    macstux, Mar 31, 2020 IP
  2. NetStar

    NetStar Notable Member

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    #2
    That's just mindset.... Odds are if you have a lot of mini projects that never get finished you most likely have a LOT of goals in your life that are never met from fitness to financial etc.

    Personally for me I can come up with an idea easily but I will over engineer the hell out of it to the point that I am trying to build rome in a day. The best advice I ever got was from reading about MVP's (Minimum Viable Products). Following that model I was able to complete projects quicker then expand on the ones that are successful in testing the market.
     
    NetStar, Mar 31, 2020 IP
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  3. macstux

    macstux Well-Known Member

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    #3
    Thanks! Ill take a look at that.
     
    macstux, Mar 31, 2020 IP
  4. sarahk

    sarahk iTamer Staff

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    #4
    upload_2020-4-1_18-27-31.png

    I don't know if this is a case of being young and undisciplined - possibly through inexperience. It takes time to learn business and time planning and how to stop being impulsive when the next great idea comes along. I strongly disapprove of people becoming entrepreneurs with zero work experience. There are always exceptions but on the whole it's good to learn from the mistakes and experiences of others.

    or

    You've got undiagnosed ADHD and meds will help you to focus on the business and time planning that you're doing but not sticking to. There's this whole thing that you grow out of ADHD or that adults don't need meds, blah blah. I've heard some crap from parents who should know better.

    What I'm also seeing are adults who have struggled with what you describe suddenly find they have the ability to see things through, to choose a path and stick to it despite tempting alternatives. My friends are being diagnosed in their 50s. My kids were diagnosed at 19 and 21 because good kids don't raise red flags in NZs education system - but they fall apart when they try to "adult" because that shit's hard. You're in the US (I think) and I suspect they're not much different.

    FWIW the upside of ADHD is "hyperfocus" and that is a powerful tool. It lets you be completely immersed in a project and oblivious of time flying by. "First Responders" often have ADHD because they can give everything to a situation when they need to with better results that NeuroTypicals. Programmers do well because we don't plod from A to B to C, we can see Z from here and all the steps in between with great clarity.
     
    sarahk, Mar 31, 2020 IP
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  5. Spartan14

    Spartan14 Active Member

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    #5
    I have the same problem , i try to make many things at one ,i think thats way its the reaon that i dont succed
     
    Spartan14, Apr 1, 2020 IP
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  6. Benjamin Scott

    Benjamin Scott Active Member

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    #6
    I'd suggest writing your goals down and the steps that you are going to take to make that idea a reality and don't jump to anything else until you strictly follow those steps. You aren't going to succeed if you don't follow through on your plans. But put them on paper and check off the steps that you complete. Also keep your eye on the prize by looking at your goals everyday. Keep them visible.
     
    Benjamin Scott, Apr 6, 2020 IP
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  7. jrbiz

    jrbiz Acclaimed Member

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    #7
    I have seen some entrepreneurs bounce from interesting project to interesting project and my conclusion was that they were fearful of failure (or possibly success) because if you start but never finish a project, you have not yet failed. It's fun and easy to start a project; it requires strong discipline and no fear to work tirelessly towards a worthwhile goal.
     
    jrbiz, Apr 7, 2020 IP
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  8. Jason Frank

    Jason Frank Greenhorn

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    #8
    I had that feeling allot when I was younger. Made some small companies but it never worked out :( But I never gave up. I focused on one thing now I have more then 3 companies ;)
     
    Jason Frank, May 6, 2020 IP
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  9. JEET

    JEET Notable Member

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    #9
    This is a mmajor problem amongst "developers".
    The excitement of starting something new is too much, backed up by the learning curve while developing, gives a feeling of great satisfaction at the time.
    It takes many years to realize that you have wasted a lot of money on an idea which was never destined to take off...
    For me, this has been my infatuation with my own social network.
    So far, I must have coded at least 5 network scripts from scratch in the last 4-5 years, neither pulled any interest from others.
    The start is very exciting, but by the time I am near the end, I myself realize that nobody is going to use it.
    Either its too complicated, or is missing many features which other existing networks have, or something else.
    Surprisingly, I recently came across one website which was doing something very similar to what I had done 4 years back, but then I shut it down cause I lost interest.
    And now, another website is growing with a very very similar idea, minor differences.


    I think the key is to focus on the projects that are working, set aside a time for developing on those projects, set aside some time for their marketing etc.
    Keep doing that, also spending some little time on those new projects which you enjoyed starting.

    Keep at least a 3-5 year view for a project you started.
    Initially, if its not pulling any interest at all, still develop on it, not spending too much time, not cutting the time from your main projects, and hope for the best.

    By the way, right now, am giving one more shot to another social network. Fingers crossed!
     
    JEET, May 6, 2020 IP
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  10. IMDaniel

    IMDaniel Greenhorn

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    #10
    I used to have that problem.

    You need to have discipline.

    It is good to try new things to see what works and what doesn't.

    Make sure that you have a long term plan for at least one project and to stick to it, and dedicate most of your time to it.

    the other things you do on the side should take up less of your time.

    If you stick to that, then your business will get further and grow bigger every day then the day before :)
     
    IMDaniel, May 7, 2020 IP
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  11. CastroS

    CastroS Greenhorn

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    #11
    But what about the rule - don't lay all your eggs in one basket? Sometimes you can lose money in the main project, but earn a sufficient amount for additional ones. Just such an approach in business assumes that you invest money in different ideas, but the person to whom you entrusted manages each idea.
     
    CastroS, May 12, 2020 IP
  12. LewisH95

    LewisH95 Greenhorn

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    #12
    If everyone were an entrepreneur, then everyone would be trying to start businesses, but none of those businesses would have anyone to hire, and so none of them could ever have more than one employee. ... Entrepreneurs are all trying to build new businesses, not work for existing ones.
     
    LewisH95, Jun 6, 2020 IP
  13. L3G10N

    L3G10N Well-Known Member

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    #13
    I used to have this problem until I changed my my mindset. I currently own multiple businesses and the reasons for their continued success is the planning and execution. My businesses are treated as such and operate off of numbers. You need to define potential, growth strategies, ROI, operating costs etc.. the list goes on and a brick and mortar business has the same goal as an online business. ROI . Make short term and long term goals and stick to them until they are met.

    Oh yeah and for the record, the most profitable business I own is not something I do or enjoy doing. I started the business because it had massive ROI potential and I had the connections to make it work.
     
    L3G10N, Jun 9, 2020 IP
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  14. ked85

    ked85 Peon

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    #14
    I think thats the best way to start a business, out of passion and real interest. Otherwise you end up hating work, which cant give great results.
    But I also think consistency is key. Ive done the same things many times, many little projects and then changed my mind, because I genuinely have many interests.
    Unfortunately, Ive never been able to grow any of my projects as much as I wanted to, so I decided to do this: Write a list of all the projects Id like to work on, and all the industries that interest me.
    Then I re-order the list in order of priority. Once I know my priorities, I work only on the first project and nothing else. I will only allow myself to work on the next one after the first has succeeded. Hope this helps.
     
    ked85, Jun 15, 2020 IP
  15. MitchDaGuy

    MitchDaGuy Greenhorn

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    #15
    I think the phrase the best describes jumping around from one business idea to the next is 'shiny object syndrome'. I really battled with this for a long time. Unfortunately for me, I learned the hard way that jumping from one thing to the other was making it harder to achieve my end goal of being a successful business owner. End of the day, find something you know you can achieve success with (maybe you've seen others achieve lots of success in that niche) and stick with it through thick and thin and block out all the other distractions that will inevitably try and steer you off of a narrow-focused path.
     
    MitchDaGuy, Jun 15, 2020 IP
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