Staying focused on incremental achievements is not enough

In today’s world, start-up companies are everywhere, covering the majority of industries – from mobile app developers to groundbreaking technology - and service providers – from a simple e-commerce platform to a full-on one-stop solution. It has never been easier to start a new company, with the help of social media to promote your business, crowdfunding to capture financing resources, and web-based investor platforms to link up with suitable investors across the globe. All these channels can support the growth of a start-up business. However, what is the percentage of start-up successes? Surprisingly, looking at the internet you will see that 90 per cent of start-ups fail. So the question is: what makes that 10 per cent tick?

I was a participant in a recent focus group and one of the questions I answered was to describe the mindset of an entrepreneur. The question got me wondering, what really is the key factor? What is that one thing that an entrepreneur’s mindset requires in order to be successful? What is the one thing that cannot be found lacking, even if you have all other skill sets? This critical element of success turned out to be a simple five-letter word – “focus”.

What I mean is not simply the concentration required for doing a specific task, but also the ability to be continuously moving forward, following through what has been started, finishing off what initially has begun, reaching your goal. Imagine if Steve Jobs had sold Apple to somebody else; Apple might not have invented the iPhone and Mac computers. To be able to achieve your final objective, it is essential to stay on track, walking every step of the way, overcoming every single obstacle in order to celebrate once you have reached the top of the mountain.

Of course, this is easier said than done. Many people quit halfway because they do not want to risk their initial success; they simply want to stay in the comfort zone of what they are good at. In my opinion, that is not what success is. It is like randomly jumping on a train to start an unexpected journey, but getting off halfway and never learning what the final destination was supposed to be. Since you want to go from 0 to 1 – not 0.5 – staying “focused” on you end goal is important.

To be able to stay focused, we need to understand that “focus” is a psychological factor rather than a physical skill set. It is a form of personality that requires you to train your brain. The most effective approach for doing so is to visualise thoughts, turning something intangible into something that is tangible. Here are some tips that I found useful.

Multitask, not multitrack

Make a list of tasks that you need to do each day and make sure you stick to it, ticking against your checklist as you complete each one. This will help you avoid doing something you are not supposed to. Similarly, using a Gantt chart, mainly for project management, to track each individual task against a timeline can help you measure progress. Using a scheduled timetable also helps you focus on what you are doing and how you allocate your work.