Primary Focus – Zero in on Your Strengths

Your primary focus is what you do, and with absolute clarity, you should be able to define it in two truths: your reason for being and your niche. There is a concept, called the hedgehog concept that helps to put this idea together. Chapter five in the book Good to Great talks about it.

That point in the middle can be your company’s primary focus: what you love doing, what you’re the best at, and what makes your money. If you have those three, go to the middle, and that’s where you can define your primary focus.

Putting It Together

Take for example this scenario. One of our company’s last acquisitions was a business that did not have a primary focus.

We bought a multi-sport training complex, a $500,000 revenue business that the owners invested 1.5 million to get going, who after three years was ready to leave the business. He couldn’t figure it out. Why? He did not have a Primary Focus.

Instead of trying to reach a target customer, they were targeting customers all over the board. They did not know who they were or their niche.

What did we do to turn this business from a business valued at $150,000 to a business worth $1,500,000 two years later? We developed a primary focus. Seems simple, but it was not easy.

You remember it was a multi-sport facility. They were trying to be all things to all people. At a closer look, we realized that they offered six sports, but two of those sports brought in 80% of the revenue. So, we dropped the other four, focusing on the two that brought in most of the business, and we became the best provider of those two sports not only in Atlanta but also, I would say, the world. We were the best facility in the world at training only baseball and softball players only after ditching football, soccer, lacrosse, and basketball.

Then, we got even more narrowly focused. Again, we did a deep dive into the business. Of all the baseball and softball business, 80% of it was players between the ages of 5 and 12. So, we then became the very best at providing baseball and softball instruction to 5 to 12-year-old players.

As a result, we created a successful yet significant business that knew who our customer was, and we became the best at serving those niche customers.

Find Your Primary Focus

What do you want to be the very best at? If you can’t be the best, let someone else try and only focus on what you can be the very best at. Hopefully, its something you love and something that makes money, and then, you have the perfect hedgehog concept.

Are you struggling to find your focus? Contact us today to see how we can help you find your niche.