How to Create Success By Being Ruthlessly Focused

I am often asked by entrepreneurs what the key is to consistent business success. There is no science behind it – it’s always achievable, but it's also about putting in the effort. The more you put in, the more you get out. But there are some key characteristics which help you towards this.

In my last blog I spoke about one of the most important lessons I learnt early on, which was that you don’t need to be aggressive and ruthless to succeed in business. You don’t need to treat people with disregard or a lack of compassion. However being ruthlessly focused is a very different and very important trait to have.

Firstly you need to decide what success means to you. What exactly are you looking to achieve? It’s essential to have clear goals in place rather than just vague descriptions, such as saying you want to grow. Do you want to grow sales, profit margins, your brand?

Next you have to decide how you are going to get there. This is where planning and strategy comes in. No stone should be left unturned and you must know exactly what you are going to do. It’s never wise to go into business blind, or to decide you will play things by ear.

You must be extremely driven in pursuit of the results you want. I was once giving a talk at a university when I was approached by somebody who wanted to work for me. Although he didn’t necessarily have the experience, he was very persistent and driven. One day he turned up at my office unannounced, and it was clear he was determined to work for me. I ended up creating a role within the business for him, and then a couple of years later, he pitched me a brilliant business idea. Now he runs an entire portfolio of investments.

I have a number of other people on my team that are what I would call ruthlessly focused – that doesn’t mean they are unfair, it means they know what they want and have a plan on how to get there. They won’t stop and have the ability to see the tasks in hand.

In the professional environment people are so easily distracted by ‘noise’. Whether it’s emails, admin or politics, there will always be something that seems so much more important than the actual task. More often than not, people will get caught up with the nice to have activity rather than the critical work which creates more value for the business. Being ruthlessly focused means you have the ability to cancel out this noise and focus on what is important. It’s a strength in itself to be able to say something is not critical.

Another aspect of being focused is to make your business a specialist. I’m yet to meet a client or customer who doesn’t want to speak to someone that knows exactly what they are talking about. Sometimes, in the rush to expand, businesses lose their core strengths. Essentially, you could end up being a jack of all trades but master of none. By focusing on what you are good at and providing an excellent service, you can become the leader in this space.

Success in any walk of life is based on putting your goals first. Find out what you want, decide exactly how you will achieve it, and let nothing distract you from the end result.

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