Becoming a Portfolio Entrepreneur and Making It Work
The “portfolio entrepreneur” concept has been around for a long time and it’s sometimes mistaken for being the same as a “serial entrepreneur”. The difference? A serial entrepreneur has built many startups over an extended period, whereas a portfolio entrepreneur is building many at the same time. Of course you can be both a serial & portfolio entrepreneur… if you survive to tell the tale!
Building and operating multiple bets at any given time.
So why would you want to think of building multiple businesses at the same time? Well for some individuals, there’s a constant stream of new ideas that get formed and some pass the smell test. Those individuals need to scratch the itch to see whether the idea can actually become a thing. And to do that it’s even less expensive to build and validate a new product’s market fit then 5 years ago. In fact it can, in most cases, be done for free. There’s no need to commit to a single vision of how your product must be if you can test dozens of meaningfully different iterations and get real user data. The Lean Startup movement has only accelerated this notion.
Ruthless Prioritisation
If you are going to build and operate multiple businesses at the same time then you really need to compartmentalise your calendar. Allocating sufficient time for each project and sticking to it. I’ve learnt that I can’t be online for every project I’m involved in at the same time, it simply doesn’t work. You end up with mediocre results.
Delegation
Surround yourself around the best people. A good entrepreneur will do well in any business once he or she has the right people around them, either as cofounders or early employees. Delegating parts of the building phase to people you trust will only help you allocate your time better.
Knowing when to pull the handbrake
Every entrepreneur needs to know when they have reached their threshold. There are only 24 hours in a day and a good portion of that should be allocated to rest/sleep. If that portion of the day is eroded then quality of your work won’t meet the desired standards. The primary consequence of taking on too much is that none of it gets done how you would like.
These products or businesses don’t need to reach $100 million valuations, they don’t need to attract venture capital. They can be streamlined and automated so they provide sufficient side revenue to you and the team.
Focus on one problem per business and do it really well.
So if you are thinking of spinning up another ‘side hustle’ I recommend you to take a hard look at the ideas that have caught your eye so far and think: Can I allocate sufficient time to build this product on top of other work commitments I already have? If your answer is no, you need to carve into areas of your schedule where you can be more flexible. If that means tinkering with your ideas in the evenings and weekends, so be it.
That’s what it means to be a portfolio entrepreneur. You don’t wait until your plate is empty before you start another business. You just spin another one up and see if it grows as nicely as your first one.
