In the last POTW, we talked about specialization. Many companies make the mistake of listing everything they offer (never mind offering too much!), thus branding themselves as generalists.

You don’t want to do that. People want the best they can afford, and they also want an expert. You want to be their go-to person.

That same client I spoke about in the last Point, whose company was trying to be everything to everyone, told me what his firm was doing to grow their business. Again, they were all over the place.

In fact, they were trying everything and not sticking with anything. When I asked him why they were taking this broad, generalized and somewhat haphazard approach, he said they were doing anything and everything they could to add new clients and grow their revenue.

His goal is great. The desire to grow your business is a noble, necessary goal; every business should work progressively toward this goal. Then, I asked him a few “what if” questions. First, I asked: “What if you were capitalized? If your cash flow was great, would you still be doing all those things?”

He didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely not,” he said. “But you gotta do what you gotta do.”

I had him list all the things he would be doing if cash flow were not an issue. It took a few minutes for him to go there. He’d start to list something, but then he’d dismiss the idea saying, “We couldn’t afford to do that.” I suggested he take a more positive, imaginative approach and stop telling me “why” he couldn’t do something. “Just tell me what you think you should be doing,” I said.

He then came up with a list of things he’d definitely do differently. And this list was right on.

Next, I asked him, “What if cash flow was optimal? What would you stop doing?” This list encompassed nearly every action they currently are performing in an effort not to overlook any opportunity.

We compared his lists of what he would like to do and what he would like to stop doing. We identified some actions that he could start doing right now—even with limited cash flow. Then we discussed what hit-and-miss things he could stop doing in order to work more systematically and be more specialized.

Asking the big “what if” questions changed this executive’s focus for his future; our call to action now has him working on the right activities that will enhance his business in the short-term and in the long-term.

Many people today are working in a reactive kind of mode. They are doing all sorts of things (sometimes downright crazy things) because they think they have to do anything and everything to make something happen. Working that way often feels very busy (you feel like you are, at least, doing something), but normally it isn’t productive. This is not the way you want to work. I challenge you to ask yourself: “What would I do if money wasn’t an issue?” (Your list will invariably show you the right things you need to do to take your business to the next level.) Then follow that up with this question: “What would I stop doing if money wasn’t an issue?” Take a long, hard look at this list, and then take some of these unproductive actions off your daily to-dos.