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Can an Entrepreneur Succeed When Focusing on Various Ventures at the Same Time?

Is it wise for an entrepreneur to start several new businesses at the same time?

Someone asked if it is possible to start several ventures simultaneously — in this person’s case, two consulting businesses, an Internet project, and a construction company — at the same time.

I do run several businesses, but never started them at the same time. I suppose one can do it, but it depends on various factors, such as:

• Your work ethic
• Your level of productivity
• Your capacity to multi-task
• Your resources
• Your knowledge in these businesses

There are people who can do it — and succeed, but many fail. The question is: can you do it?

You need to ask yourself:

• Do you have money to hire someone and delegate some of the tasks that needs to be done to work on these projects?
• Do you have responsibilities outside of these four projects?
• Do you have a family who may want a portion of your time, as working on 4 different projects at once may mean you need 25 hour workdays?
• How focused are you?
• How well do you manage your time?
• How much are you willing to sacrifice to get these projects off the ground?

It all depends on your willingness to commit and work hard at it. But working on all is EXTREMELY HARD. If you don’t have laser like focus and operates on clockwork, or have a family who also wants your time and attention, then it will be hard to start these new businesses at the same time.

In my opinion, it is better to stagger your various projects and focus on one. This way, you can make sure that the first project has started well and is now running smoothly BEFORE moving to another project.