The Secret to Successful Prioritization in the Early Stages of a Business

As an early-stage business entrepreneur, you have a lot on your plate and never enough money or time to get everything done. A difficult task, but vital if you want to proceed with your project, is deciding what to work on and what to put on the back burner.

So, how do you make your choice?

If you ask an IP lawyer about one of the most important aspects of running a company, they will certainly include protecting your patents. In any case, startups are invention machines, and if you can’t protect your idea legally, others will take it and benefit from your hard work.

If you consult a commercial lawyer, they’ll most likely tell you that establishing a solid contractual foundation among the early staff members is critical. If you don’t, you risk making internal issues within the founding team impossible to settle, and internal conflicts are unfortunately one of the most common reasons for startup failure.

And, if you ask a financial professional, they’ll tell you that contracts don’t matter if you can’t make your payments; they’ll still be honored. We all need to eat, and it’s difficult to empower people and test ideas without a solid financial base.

A developer will tell you that product quality is one aspect you should not skimp on. Certainly, this is an important aspect — it will be difficult to grow a business with a lousy offering significantly. In any event, one thing that many of the most successful digital innovators have in common is a preoccupation with the smallest details, which translates to dedicated customers willing to advocate for your brand and promote natural growth.

According to a marketer, even the most polished product won’t receive the desired start if you don’t have a solid startup marketing strategy that gets you early traction.

The problem is that each of those assertions is only half correct. Neglecting any aspects of running a successful business causes risks, difficulties, and inefficiencies. You just don’t have a choice in the matter. You can’t afford to stretch yourself too thin; something has to give.

“The difference between profitable people and genuinely successful people is that profitable people say no to almost everything.” Buffett, Warren

Saying no to affordable concerns and protecting mental property rights are examples of this.

To make a mark as a business founder, you must ensure that the little resources you have are being used in the most effective way possible. And the simplest way to achieve so is to focus your efforts on a particular stress level.

In reality, the particular location where you wish to determine your stress level is very situational. Validating a need for what you’re doing provides a great foundation for your project. However, after that is accomplished, the next stage is to determine what will set you apart from the other projects competing for attention. Your decision should be based on your previous experience in the field and the environment (market) in which your project operates.

Apply what you’re good at to your project all the time, and don’t worry about the rest of it. Your carelessness would surely result in problems, but the good news is that all of the other business requirements are contingent on you having a worthy project in your hands.

In general, it’s preferable to have a valuable, growing project with difficulties that you can handle once you have more resources than a project that falls flat on its face while having flawless contracts due to a lack of focus on what matters.