The #1 Mistake Founders Make

For years I thought there was some secret to making it.

There isn’t.

It’s focus.

And it’s the mistake almost every entrepreneur makes at every level.

I was talking to a friend who runs an agency. He helps businesses get B2B leads.

One of his clients is a financial services firm.

He was complaining that he can’t get new customers.

So I ask: “Who’s your customer?”

He says: “Businesses that need leads.”

Translation: everyone.

That’s not a niche. That’s not focus. That’s death.

Here’s the thing about focus: it feels wrong.

When you don’t have enough customers, the natural instinct is to go broader. Serve more people. Say yes to everything.

But that’s exactly why you’re stuck.

The problem isn’t that there aren’t enough customers.

The problem is you’re not good enough… yet.

And the way you get good is focus.

You get reps. You stack proof. You build expertise in one thing.

That’s how you grow.

Think about it like this:

• Business A serves 5 niches in a month. They gain 1 point of skill in each niche. That’s 5 points spread thin.

• Business B serves just 1 niche in a month. They gain 5 points in the same place.

Same effort. But one moves 5x faster.

That’s the power of focus.

Most people never get there. They keep floundering: trying a little of this, a little of that, and hoping “something works.”

They don’t realize the answer was right in front of them: say no to almost everything.

It feels painful because you want more opportunities. But the irony is this:

You only get more by doing less.

I’ve seen this at every level.

Even in businesses doing $50M a year. Leaders spin up “new projects” because they think doing more = moving faster.

They split attention. Context switch. Spread resources thin.

And then they crash.

Why?

Because it’s a law of physics.

Doing 2 things is harder than doing 1. Always.

It’s not safer. It’s not faster. It’s just harder.

If you had to choose between:

• A business that does 10 things,

• A business that does 1 thing,

And you need that one thing done… who do you trust?

You pick the specialist every time.

That’s the job of the founder: focus.

Say no. Over and over again.

Because every no is a louder yes to the thing that matters.

Back to my friend.

I asked how his business was going. He said he’s “still thinking about how to niche down.”

Then he adds: “Oh, and I found this new opportunity with voice agents for some businesses…”

This is not a man that’s focused.

What’s New?

I’m revamping my onboarding for GolfWink - fixing the funnel front to back until I have something that can actually scale.

Back to work.

Have a good week all. And see you next week.

Ben.