Suffering from Entrepreneurial Deficit Disorder? Here’s a Simple Way to Stay Focused on the Things That Keep Your Business Financially Healthy
Many entrepreneurs suffer from EDD, or entrepreneurial deficit disorder, a malady in which they have big hearts but so many ideas and so many talents that they don’t know where to focus their efforts or how to choose the best strategies for their situation.
Here’s a real-life example from a recent experience of mine:
I’m helping one of my clients build his group coaching program. As part of this endeavor, I spoke directly with one of his test clients. I gave her advice on where to focus her gifts and talents. Later I heard a recording of a follow-up coaching session that my client did with her.
She was euphoric because I got her pointed in a direction that she’s super excited about; it’s one of her life’s passions. Great news, right? And it gets better: I heard her report that she was so excited that she went out and got several new clients. Starting from scratch, she generated approximately $3,500 in monthly revenue, catalyzed by our initial conversation.
Imagine how thrilled I was to hear this! Then she dropped a bomb: With unbridled enthusiasm, she reported that she had gotten her accountant to agree to train her in how to use QuickBooks. Instantaneously, I felt the blood drain from my face and my back slouch a little bit.
I flashed back to a moment years ago, when I happened be flipping through a book on business planning. I was curious to see the author’s advice for setting up a new business to be successful. In one of the early chapters, she wrote that one of the first things you should do is hire a graphic designer and create a logo for your new business. Bad advice. And this was a best-selling book.
You just don’t need a logo to generate business! (Despite generating a six-figure annualized revenue stream in 73 days, I didn’t have a logo for my business for at least the first couple of years.) Instead, you’d be far better off spending your time and money on getting clients, customers, and patients. A logo will not do that for you.
The same advice applies to my client’s test client: Instead of her spending time, money, and energy on learning a complex piece of software that was designed for financial professionals, she would be better served to focus on getting even more clients — and then delivering outstanding service and value.
When considering investing a significant amount of their time, energy, or money, I advise my clients to consider the following questions:
- Will this activity help me increase my revenue?
- Will this activity help me reduce my expenditures?
- Will this activity boost my cash flow?
- Will this activity boost my productivity?
If the answer is yes to at least one of these, and ideally more than one, I’m likely to recommend such an activity. But if the answer is no to all of these, it’s best to steer clear.
Real-life stories like these continue to drive me and my business partner, Dan Bowser, to create a cash-flow and money-management educational program for entrepreneurs. We’ve also been encouraged by many of you to develop a Web-based application, Business Cash Pulse. This tool is designed to present entrepreneurs with the financial numbers that matter. It’s designed to be simple enough that you don’t have to invest a lot of time, money, or energy into learning how to use the doggone thing; every minute you waste learning complex software is time and energy taken away from doing what you do best: serving clients, customers, and patients.
In the coming days and weeks, you’ll be hearing more about our holistic, whole-brain (no, not harebrained!) approach to making more money and keeping more of what you make. And you don’t have to be a financial expert to pull this off!