The hardest temptation to curb in early stage business strategy is the Fallacy of the Low-Hanging Fruit. Or the temptation to try initiatives because they are “easy” to execute, even if it diverts away from the core focus. Here’s an example (actual conversation): Person A: Here’s our strategy - the main idea is to focus majority of our efforts in Market A while still giving proper attention to Market B because there are quick wins. Me: How much time are we spending on Market B? Person A: About 25% Me: So we are saying we want to focus 25% of our time on a market we aren’t focused on? Person A: There’s a lot of potential in that market, and think it’s worth a shot. Me: Ok, so again, we are saying we want to focus 25% of resources on a market we aren’t focused on? Said in another way, we want to take 25% of your resources to distract ourselves from our core focus area? Person A: I see where you're coming from, and I get the concern around diluting our focus. But we should be testing both in parallel and see where we get more traction. Me: Ok, so we are deciding to distract ourselves from our core focus market and delay the results of seeing traction in our core focus market so we can maybe see if results pan out in a non-focus market? (To be continued… conversation still ongoing 🙂) I get it, I’ve been there and sometimes still find myself leaning into this temptation. It’s scary to go all-in and place all my bets in one basket. I don’t want to miss out on opportunities and want to try all of the things just in case one of them pans out. But success in a new market requires: • Dedicated resources • Full commitment • Undivided attention • Sustained effort If not, what happens is: • Quality suffers • Teams get frustrated • Projects move slower • Results become mediocre I’ve learned (after many trials!) that if I don’t give an initiative the attention, time, and focus it deserves, I’m not actually giving the initiative true shot and only going to arrive at the results slower. It’s sooooo hard to resist doing more… but focus helps you win faster. View original post on LinkedIn.