the business ladder

By Rory James MacLaren-Jackson (First published 02.02.09)

In business, it’s a surprisingly well-kept secret that successful people often become successful by having a variety of interests and operating in a number of different fields throughout their career.

Certainly, the famous entrepreneurs who feature in the media tend to be labelled as having broken through in one particular field. But in reality, it’s frequently the case that the business they’re best known for wasn’t the only one – or even the main one – in which they made their money.

For aspiring entrepreneurs, the diversification of this ‘portfolio approach’ is valuable for various reasons: you expand your knowledge, you develop many different skills, and you spread your risk around, all while giving yourself the option of focusing on a specific venture that does especially well. The importance of not putting all your eggs in one basket, as the proverb goes, is fairly self-evident. But beyond this ‘defensive’ strategy, in our training we also stress the ‘active’ side of becoming well-rounded and able to do different things.

Some people have a kneejerk reaction and can be a bit put off by this idea. Fair enough, because when taken to extremes there is a downside to being too much of a ‘jack of all trades’. Just think of an overstretched Delboy from Only Fools and Horses, wheeling and dealing with dodgy products he knows nothing about, spreading himself too thinly and doing everything badly. Of course, that’s not what we’re saying here. The key is savvy diversification – using your existing skills, and looking for synergies, profitable cross-over and knowledge overlap so that the left hand helps out the right hand.

This doesn’t have to mean giving up your job and becoming a multi-faceted business owner (from my personal experience, I know that’s a big step to take). No, diversity can also extend to a business activity on the side while you’re still employed. We accept that the life of the full-time self-employed entrepreneur isn’t necessarily for everyone! But just like you shouldn’t put ALL your money in gold or Japanese yen or mortgage-backed securities, take time to devise a strategy to push your future along more than one path, not just your main career. But in addition to preparing you for a form of self-employment later on, our highly effective business training can significantly boost your performance in your employed job too. For this purpose we also introduce the concept of ‘treating your career as a business’ with regard to skills, efficiency, good habits, learning how to think practically and creatively, and gaining commercial awareness.

With regard to me personally, my own portfolio of business interests includes a variety of activities such as lettings and property management, sales and marketing, life coaching, media production and publishing, financial trading and private investment. That’s why the nickname ‘The Serial Entrepreneur’ has kind of stuck with me wherever I go! I love the challenge of working across so many different business areas week in week out, experimenting and developing exciting, and most importantly, profitable business strategies.

Broad principles like diversification are fundamental to the highly practical training we offer at The Business Ladder, and contribute to fulfilling our goal of helping people in ‘building better business’. Our training helps you emulate what we actually do ourselves to be successful in our endeavours: how to be creative and pragmatic, learning to adapt to changing situations, and staying hungry for new knowledge, skills and the opportunity to build business with them.

Keep your eggs spread across at least a few well-chosen baskets, and don’t be afraid to be a ‘jack’ and a ‘master’ of several trades as your business career unfolds. In times of such rapid economic and technological change, the right approach and attitude towards diversification will be a truly 21st-century requirement in shaping your individual and business success.

© Copyright 2009 The Business Ladder (UK) Limited

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