🏁 ROT #8: Stop chasing shiny objects

TL;DR: Stop chasing multiple ventures before mastering your first. Spreading time, money, and focus too thin keeps you mediocre at everything. Instead, dominate one business—narrow your services, focus marketing on what works, build strong systems, master your core skills, and expand only after your main business is solid. Depth beats breadth: one well-oiled money machine outperforms ten half-baked hustles. Lock in, do the unglamorous work daily, and become the CEO of a dominant business—not a firefighter in five failing ones.

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What’s up everybody?

Let’s cut to the chase: stop distracting yourself with new ventures before you’ve mastered your first one.

Period.

I see too many rookie entrepreneurs hopping to the “next big idea” without ever nailing the one business right in front of them. You know who you are – chasing five different hustles, spreading time and cash all over the place, and wondering why nothing is really taking off.

Time and money are going up in smoke because you’re trying to do too many things at once. Meanwhile, that one venture that could change your life is starving for your full attention.

Most new entrepreneurs romanticize busyness instead of focusing on effectiveness.

Yeah, being busy feels good – it’s like a badge of honor. You tell everyone you’re “grinding” 18 hours a day, juggling multiple projects, always so busy.

But guess what?

Busyness is usually just procrastination dressed up to look important. You can be the busiest guy in town and still be dead in the water. Activity is not the same as progress. Hustling on a hundred little tasks might make you feel productive, but if none of them move the needle (new leads, revenue, better systems, etc.), you’re just spinning your wheels.

The truth is, being effective beats being busy every time. Real winners aren’t proud of working hard on everything – they’re proud of working hard on the right things.

Let me put it another way: you want to be a master of your craft, not a jack of all trades. Jack of all trades, master of none – you’ve heard it. In business, the jack-of-all-trades is the one scraping by, while the master of one craft is making the real money.

If you run a junk removal service, then become the best damn junk removal service in your market. Don’t also try to launch a landscaping side-hustle, an eBay store, and a crypto startup on Tuesdays.

The entrepreneurs who win go deep, not wide.

They build expert reputation and killer systems in one domain, instead of doing a half-baked job in ten different areas. Lack of focus is one of the biggest reasons businesses fail – too many owners try to do too many things and end up mediocre at all of them.

Success comes from doing one thing really, really well .

Now, I’m not saying you should never diversify or expand – but diversification comes after you build and stabilize your primary business, not before.

Earn your expansion.

Get your core business humming – steady profits, strong team, systems that run like clockwork. Only then do you add on another venture or service, and even then, do it smart.

Stay close to your core.

If you’re killing it in junk removal, expanding into demolition or dumpster rentals makes sense (you’re using the same trucks, crew skills, and customer base). That’s a natural evolution.

But jumping into a completely unrelated business early on?

That’s just shiny object syndrome. You’re an entrepreneur, not a bored stock broker trying to hedge bets – so act like it. Pick what matters and crush it .

This applies to your marketing and budget too. I’ve seen folks scatter their marketing dollars across five industries or services at once – a few hundred here, a few there – and then they wonder why the phone isn’t ringing.

Spreading your marketing too thin is just as bad.

Focus your resources where they count.

Dominate one market or channel before you dabble elsewhere. It’s far more efficient to go all-in on one or two marketing strategies that actually work, than to lightly dabble in ten tactics and master none.

Remember, depth beats breadth: better to have one well-oiled money machine than ten rusty, underpowered engines.

When you master one service business, you’re not limiting yourself – you’re setting yourself up to replicate that success later. Mastery builds confidence, credibility, and cash flow. Once you’ve built something that runs on rails, you’ll have the playbook (and bankroll) to tackle whatever you want next.

The skills you learn by focusing – sales, marketing, operations, leadership – are transferable. But you’ve got to earn them first by doing the work in one arena. So slow down on the new ventures, and double down on the main one.

How do you actually put this into practice? 

Here are five Real Ones strategies to keep you focused and effective:

1. Focus on a Narrow Service Range – Don’t try to offer every service under the sun. Pick a niche and dominate it. Become known for one thing. If you’re a junk hauler, stick to junk hauling (at least at the start). By narrowing your range, you can deliver higher quality, gain expertise, and build a reputation as the go-to pro in that area instead of a mediocre also-ran in many areas.

2. Marketing Efficiency – Concentrate your marketing where it hits hardest. Instead of sprinkling $100 across ten tactics, put $1,000 into one or two proven channels. For example, if Google Ads or local flyers bring you leads, go hard on those. Track your results and double down on what works. This “go deep, not wide” approach in marketing saves money and gets you better customers for your primary business.

3. Systematic Approach – Build systems and processes for everything in your core business. Create checklists, training scripts, scheduling systems – the works. When you focus on one business, you have the time to refine how it operates. A systematic approach means your business can run without you micromanaging every detail. It also makes it easier to scale that business (and eventually others). Remember, a business that runs on systems prints money; one that runs on your constant juggling falls apart.

4. Skill Mastery – Commit to mastering the key skills of your business. If you’re in a service game, that might be sales, customer service, efficient operations, or technical know-how in your trade. Invest in improving those skills every day. Read, practice, get coaching – whatever it takes. When you’re the best at what you do, you don’t worry about competition. Clients chase the master, not the half-interested jack-of-all-trades. Skill mastery in your first venture also gives you the confidence to tackle new ventures later from a position of strength.

5. Gradual Expansion – Expansion isn’t off the table – it’s just done gradually and strategically. Once your core business is solid, expand one step at a time and stay close to your core. Add a related service that complements what you already do well (e.g. your junk removal business adds a dumpster rental option, or a cleaning business adds carpet cleaning). Test the waters, build systems for the new offering, and ensure your main business isn’t neglected. Never launch five things at once. Grow in controlled steps, not leaps off a cliff.

Bottom line: slow it down and stay committed to your main hustle. Put in the reps daily on the fundamentals – the unsexy, boring, critical stuff that actually makes your business money.

Don’t fall for the hype of the “next big thing” every week. Master the basics and the craft that’s right in front of you. In a year, you’ll be so far ahead of the scatterbrained, shiny-object-chasing competition it won’t even be fair.

So ask yourself: do you want to play chief firefighter in five mediocre businesses, or CEO of one dominant business?

The choice is yours, and it’s made in the grunt work you do today on that one thing that truly matters.

Slow it down, lock in your focus, and put in the work every damn day. That’s how you build something that lasts.

Now step back, take a deep breath, and get back to mastering your craft – one day at a time. Let’s get it. 🏁🏁🏁