Some of the best business advice I have ever received was also some of the simplest. I came across it when Ramin and I attended the 2009 Interbourse in Whistler BC. We spent a week surrounded by the world exchanges elite and soaked up as much insight and wisdom as possible. What truly stuck were the words offered by Gustavo Montero, “stick to your core business, especially when your business is in its infancy.” This has had profound effects on the way we conduct our business and which directions we take.

We used to advertise that we do everything under the sun that was even remotely related to our core business of high quality custom websites/applications and stunning design work. We would tell our clients that we were a hosting company, a branding company, a print shop, copy writers, search engine optimisers, social media specialists, etc. etc. We deliver at 100% for our core services and while we  naturally do all of the mentioned items during the course of a project, it is very different from treating them as a core service. The lowest quality deliverable you provide reflects the quality of the entire project. If our web development and design is a masterpiece, but our SEO and social media strategy are not, the entire project becomes sub-par; it’s the old weakest link sort of thing. Not only that, it clutters your mind and stresses you out  because you know you are not the best at what you are doing. Next thing you know, there are way to many things on your plate; running a web design and development company is a lot different then running a print shop or a hosting company. Trying to do everything puts much unneeded stress on you and your fledgling company.

I am not saying that you should never branch out. Diversifying is essential to survival, but can also lead to failure if you jump the gun before your foundation is set. In my opinion it is better to be ninja at one thing, then mediocre at many things. At Base-10 we have focused on our web design, web development and premium graphic design services; our business has flourished and our head aches have lessened (not disappeared). Another benefit is that it really simplifies the decision making process, “Does this stick to our core business??”.

We realise that our clients may be looking for the related services and have come to us because they want a one-stop-shop. Of course we don’t want to lose this business, so we have made relationships with local professionals who’s core businesses are the services we do not offer and thus can service our clients for these specific needs better then we would have been able to (depending on the client, we sometimes still manage the project and use the relationships as contractors). Not only are our clients now getting higher quality work, but we are feeding the local industry, building stronger relationships and often get reciprocal referrals from these relationships!

Try sticking to your core business and make your apple into a pie, see where it takes you.

Gustavo A. Montero is a managing partner and owner of GAM Consulting Group, which focuses on corporate finance. He also holds degrees in Entrepreneurship and Oceanography and currently resides in Switzerland.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 9th, 2009 at 12:40 pm and is filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.