By Kevin D. Johnson, Jr.
In today’s business landscape athletics, musicians, and other business people are often celebrated for their multiple businesses and or revenue streams. The great success that some have had, gives some the desire to take the same path. However; proper planning is truly the key to accomplishing these sorts of goals.
When setting goals the most important thing to keep in mind, that’s often overlooked, is the need to first grow solid roots in an area of your choice. Often times people are enamored with the fact that a recording artist has a clothing line or an athlete owns a restaurant, along with having endorsement deals. However, one detail that’s glossed over is the fact that before they matriculated into other categories, they were established in one profession. These individuals were all known for something before developing other business ventures.
When pondering the types of ventures that you would like to explore, make sure that you develop a strong reputation in a profession first. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Visualize your goals as trees; focus on the most important one first. If there is a need to develop a presence in a certain industry, then start with that tree. However, if your resume is already strong, then focus on a route that will help you start the next business venture. The idea is that if you have several businesses that you would like to launch, or any goal to accomplish use the following analogy. If you take a swing at 10 trees (the trees are the goals) with an ax and rotate back and forth, the goal is harder to meet. However, if you focus on one proverbial tree and keep swinging the ax you will knock the tree down faster. The consistent focus in a particular area can warrant this result. Once the tree is knocked down, say “timber” and move on to the next goal that you have set for yourself. Make sure that you are aligning the strategies from greatest importance to least.
People are often impressed with the ending result of a business venture which is great, but understating the proper process and or steps is what can propel you into the realm that you desire. Don’t take on too much at one time and be practical.
Even though my aim here is to relate this school of thought to business, the truth is it can be used for anything in life as it pertains to achieving goals.
Kevin D. Johnson, Jr. is the founder and CEO of NorthStarr Media Group; he is an educator, as well as the creator of NorthStarr Classic Apparel. Follow at @northstarrmedia.
