Small Business Success: Focusing Too Much on Details Can Hurt Your Business

All too often new business owners focus all of their attention on the details of operating the business. While ignoring the details can hurt your chances for success, too much attention to details can also be the kiss of death. The answer to this dilemma is to find a balance between maintaining a solid understanding of your business’ operations with an awareness of your long-term plans and what you hope to achieve.

You might ask “how can a focus on the operational details of your business be a problem?” Well, have you ever tried to walk on a railroad track? I have a friend who told me a story that illustrates the importance of long-term thinking well. When he was a kid, his aunt and uncle had a house right next to a railroad track. His uncle once challenged me to walk on the track without falling off. Hey, it's not like walking a tightrope. That track was as wide as his feet so he figured that it should be no problem. He started walking on the track, carefully watching his feet with each step to make sure he stayed on the track. But he couldn't get more than a couple of steps before losing his balance and falling off.

His uncle taught him that the only way to walk that track successfully was to look at a point a ways down the track - not down at his feet. By setting a goal and focusing on it, he could walk on that track as easily as if he was walking right on the ground. It was only when he focused on my feet that he lost his balance.

It works that way with business, too. Our natural reaction is to put all our attention into "watching our feet" as we deal with short-term issues. But when we do that, we "fall off the track" of where we wanted to go.

The point of this article is not to say that you should ignore the details of your business. Instead, you need to set aside time and effort to examine your long-term goals and objectives and reassess them based on changing conditions. The point in the distance that you need to focus on is the needs of your customers and how you plan to fulfill those needs. It requires you to understand your audience - who they are, what they need, and what concerns stand in the way of them choosing your solution.

Sometimes it is easier to focus on short-term issues and details at the expense of long-term thinking. After all, details are usually driven by facts and facts are something that can be learned and controlled. Understanding the people who make up our pool of potential customers is much scarier. It requires us to analyze the unknown and use our best judgment to design long-term plans. Given the choice between dealing with predictable facts and details or dealing with unpredictable events or the, at times, fickle hearts and minds of people, the natural inclination may be to focus on the details. However, that decision will just get us stuck staring at our own feet which will slip off the track. The only way to stay on track is by looking toward your ultimate goals and living your dream by helping people to solve problems in return for fair compensation.

Dealing with details is a necessary part of a successful business, but it is not THE business. They're merely the steps you take to get to that point in the distance. And the more you take that to heart, the more easily you'll stay on the track toward your goal.

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