How to Choose Your Focus When You Do More Than One Business or Activity
Over the last three weeks, I’ve gotten these questions over and over again –
“I do two different things, how do I choose which one to focus on?”
“I have two different businesses, which do I focus on?”
“I have a passion to do creative endeavors and a business, how do I spend time on each?”
Ok, this is so prevalent for so many people – that I decided to tackle these questions with a series of steps – so here you go:
Step 1: Decide Your Bread and Butter Business.
I have a little analogy I like to use. Your bread and butter business is the company that is bringing in the money that you need to live on. It’s the one that is most assured to actually pay your bills. This could be your job right now. Or it could be an old business that has proven to work to support you.
I’m not saying you love this business, though you might. But it is solid, safe and secure.
Your jelly business is your passion or your new idea. The thing you love or want to create. It could be your hobby of writing or painting. It could be the non-profit you want to start. It could be your new young coaching business.
Determine which business is your bread and butter and which is your jelly.
If you need more money in your life right now (or yesterday) & you like your bread and butter business – then focus on your bread and butter business. Give it the time, money and investment that it needs to actually create a large income to support you creating a nice lifestyle. Give your jelly business your nights and weekends – this translates to your hobby.
If you want your jelly business to become your bread and butter business (because you hate your job or your bread and butter has become boring) – then pay attention to step two.
If both are equal to you – pay attention to step two.
Step 2: Create a Schedule for Each Business or Activity
Every business or activity deserves it’s own sacred time. And you must be able to focus on one at a time to really grow and enjoy it.
Here are some examples:
Example 1:
M-F – 9-6 PM: Work Day Job
M-F – 7-9 PM and Sat 10-4: Work on New Business
Example 2:
M, W, F – 9-6: Work on Construction Business
T, TH- 9-6: Work on writing Novel
Example 3:
M-F: 9-1: Work on day job of computer maintenance
M-F: 1-6: Work on new online services company
Now you might ask – how do I decide how much time to give to one business versus another? The answer is in step one. Which business is more important to you right now? Which one is providing your bread and butter? How important is money to you right now? Can you live off another income or savings? If so, then you may be able to focus on your jelly business more.
If you really need to pay bills – then your bread and butter business may take priority right now.
Step 3: Make a Plan with Deadlines for both businesses
Give yourself goals for how much money you’d like to make in both of your businesses. And create a timeline and activities to get you there.
If you know that you want your jelly business to become your bread and butter business – make a goal for that as well. What do you need to learn to get there? Do you need new business skills? Do you need to learn sales skills? What would make this easier and possible for you?
For example, if your bread and butter business is your day job – could you go part time? And then leave the job a year from now? Make a concrete plan for how you are going to make money in your jelly business to be able to make it your bread and butter. Connect with us if making money in your jelly business is confusing for you. That just means you’ve got some business skills to learn.
You could also decide to simply focus on the bread and butter business for the next two years and then create the jelly business afterwards.
The key is to make a decision, create a timeline and commit. Because building a business that supports your desired lifestyle is the most important piece of this puzzle.
These three steps will get you started in thinking about how you want to spend your time and energy. And it will also help you to gain focus on building more income. And on a lovely side note, it should also allow you to have more time for fun!
Comment below and let me know what your questions and thoughts are! I’m happy to help.
