Don't Put All Your Eggs In One Basket
by: Ellen Dudley
According to wikipedia: Don't put all your eggs in one basket means that one should not focus all his or her resources on one hope, possibility or avenue of success.
Isn't it funny how sometimes when you are questioning an idiomatic phrase, such as this eggy one, and search for what other people have said or written about it, you find recent discussions on the very same theme. People have not only come to their own conclusions, but they have publicized them, where we can all see them: the internet.
Does this mean I am no longer thinking for myself? What did people used to do before search engines? Would they ponder over what their neighbors had done, listened to their parent's anecdotes, brought up old memories of stories they had read, and form opinions? I feel like I don't even take the time to wonder what the people around me have done anymore, I don't remember half of what I have read, and I don't even attempt to try and remember it. I rarely even take the time to think through my own past and perhaps find a solution there. Instead I just type in the words "putting all your eggs in one basket" into Google, and the work is done for me. Just this once, for experiments sake, I'm going to try and work this one through for myself, using my own knowledge and beliefs formed up to this date, and then I'll go read through the article where someone else has done the work for me. Let's see if we agree :)
First of all, what does it mean to me? The phrase to me means that you need to diversify, not focus all your attention on one thing, because if you fail, then you are left with nothing. And I am specifically talking about a web based business such as ours.
In my head the conversation goes as follows:
"The only way that you can succeed at something is to focus on it 100%. Not to focus on the failure that could occur, but on what you want to achieve, where you want to go, where you want to be. So put all your eggs in one basket."
"But it's silly to focus purely on one avenue, because you are relying on other people, always, to accept your idea and for you to profit from it."
"But it's not about money"
"So how are you going to eat?"
"If you believe in something enough, if you work hard enough at it, somehow, that passion will be delivered to the end user; that value will be transmitted, regardless of the potential flaws in the concept. And if you have a business model, you will be paid for it."
"But it takes time, effort, money to keep on pushing an idea. What if you aren't good at selling it?"
"If you aren't good at selling, then you need to recognize this, and pay someone to do it for you."
"And where does this eternal funding come from? Not only that but you are constantly battling, perhaps, if your idea is new, or unusual."
"But you have your passion to keep you fuelled. And if you are seeking to deliver value, the money will come."
"But if you do keep so focused, so determined to follow this one thing through, don't you risk blinding yourself to other opportunities? Don't you prevent the idea from adapting and changing and building?"
"But the basket can grow. The eggs can be moved around. More eggs can be added to it and others taken away. There's nothing in that statement about growing an idea or forming it so that it suits the end user better. A concept never ends, it travels on a journey, evolving as you learn."
"So you can change around the eggs, but you stay focused on the basket as a whole?"
"Exactly"
"What happens if the basket as a whole fails? Eggs crack, basket falls apart, it all breaks."
"That's fear. There is no way to predict the future. Ok, there is a chance that the whole basket will fail, and you'll be left with nothing. But you'll have learned, something! And next time you'll treat them better."
"So isn't it better to prepare for failure by having two baskets? Then you have a back up."
"No. Because then you are 'preparing for failure', not focused on success."
I didn't even know that egg basket idea was in me, yet I found myself suggesting to Adrian that he start another website soon, just in case. I guess sometimes we need to analyze our old ideas, and realize that they stem from old teachings, and old patterns, fears put on us by other people and other circumstances. Perhaps that's the reason that I have not achieved my dreams previously, because I felt I needed to diversify, just in case. But when we diversify too much, we dilute the passion, we dilute the quality and we 'prepare to fail'.
Now let's see what this guy has to say:
"Don't put your eggs in one basket" is bad advice for internet marketers.
Actually perhaps I don't need to read it after all...