One of the hardest things about working for yourself is staying focused. When you have no boss and no one to provide you with direction, it’s easy to get distracted by projects that pull you away from the core of your business and the activities that generate revenue.
This week on Dragons’ Den we met Larry Finnson and Chris Emery who introduced their product, OMG Candy. They started the company in 2010 and have no sales yet. But back in 1996, these guys founded Clodhoppers, another candy company which they grew to $9 million in sales. Unfortunately, when it came time to sell Clodhoppers, their investors made way more money than they did. So this time, with OMG, they want to do it all again—but do it right.
There is a trend I’ve noticed recently—people have multiple businesses at the same time. Just look at their Twitter bios and they’ll refer you to multiple blogs, web sites, and Facebook pages. Have you noticed this? I’ve been thinking a lot about being involved in multiple businesses and projects and the problem with this was articulated for me when I heard Laura-Jean Bernhardson, founder of Fresh Collective, speak at a recent event. Laura-Jean is a successful entrepreneur who owns three retail clothing stores. She is also devotee of Michael Gerber of E-Myth fame. In her talk, Laura-Jean referred to what Gerber calls the “entrepreneurial seizure.” She described that moment when you realize that what you’re doing is no longer the right thing, so, seized by an impulse, you run off and try something else; something new that you may not be qualified to do that involves a whole host of issues that you don't think through beforehand.
It seems to me like people are having entrepreneurial seizures all over the place. And although it was an entrepreneurial seizure that led Larry and Chris to start up OMG, I hope they keep their eyes on the prize this time. They have the benefit of past experiences: They know where they want to go with this product and what they want to accomplish. They seem determined to stay focused, which I have no doubt will be the key to their success. I can’t wait to try OMG when it hits the shelves—it looks delicious!
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