When Collegewise is presented with a potential opportunity—a new marketplace to enter, a company we can partner with, a new population of customers we can serve, etc.—I’m usually the first to push back and ask why we wouldn’t channel that time and energy into getting better at what we’re already doing.
Nobody has unlimited time and energy, so successful people and businesses have to be disciplined about how they choose to spend their available time. There are always other opportunities available for any of us. They might legitimately be exciting or profitable or just plain fun. But every minute you spend doing those things is a minute you didn’t spend working on whatever is already on your plate.
I’m not arguing against taking on new projects or challenges (if I were, Collegewise would be the same one-person shop it was when I started it in 1999). But I try to apply this discipline whenever we have a potential opportunity in front of us so we can have a good discussion about how we should choose to spend our time and energy.
Should we spend our time and energy to go into a new marketplace, or should we focus on making the offices we already have even more successful?
Should we do the work to form a partnership with a new company, or could we bring even more value to the relationships we already have?
Should we pursue a population of customers we don’t already serve, or should we find new and better ways to delight the people who are already choosing to hire us?
Sometimes pursuing the new opportunity is the right choice, especially when you realize you do have available time, or that you’re already excelling at what you’re doing. For me, those are also often the times that my business partners help remind me that some opportunities need to be taken advantage of. But in other scenarios, it’s best to focus on the battles you’re already in. And in some cases, you can actually find a way to do both. But the discipline to even ponder the choice is still valuable.
Just because you have an opportunity doesn’t always mean you should take it. So ask yourself if it’s best to do more, or to get even better at what you’re already doing.