“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius, and a lot of courage, to move in the opposite direction.” (Statistician and economist, E.F. Schumacher)
Diversification makes intuitive sense. When one revenue stream falters, another should compensate. When one market cools, another heats up. In theory, it’s prudent. In reality, however, as businesses accumulate products, geographies, customer segments and internal processes, decision-making slows and execution weakens. What began as risk management turns into managerial overload. The uncomfortable truth is that sometimes executing fewer things extraordinarily well, for longer than competitors can tolerate, is sometimes the path to true success.
Whether you’re selling koeksisters from your garage or leading a multinational tech behemoth, the ten pointers below are worth taking note of.
Diversification feels safer than it actually is
Diversification offers psychological comfort. It gives leaders the sense that they are “covered” from uncertainty. But safety in theory is not safety in execution. Each new product, market or channel introduces its own operational demands, regulatory requirements, customer expectations and failure points. Risk doesn’t disappear, it fragments. Instead of managing one or two critical risks deeply, leadership is forced to shallowly monitor many. The illusion of safety often masks a rise in systemic fragility.
Complexity is a hidden tax on performance
Every additional business line adds meetings, reporting layers, decision pathways and coordination costs. These costs rarely appear cleanly on an income statement, but they erode margins all the same. Management attention becomes diluted. Strategic conversations shift from “How do we win?” to “How do we keep everything from breaking?”
Focus is a force multiplier
Focused companies learn faster. They serve customers better because feedback loops are tight and clear. When something goes wrong, causes are easier to identify and fix. When something goes right, it can be scaled with confidence. Diversified organisations often struggle to replicate this clarity. Success in one unit is obscured by mediocrity in others. Focus doesn’t just improve execution, it sharpens strategic judgment.
Diversification often masks unresolved core weaknesses
One of the most under-discussed drivers of diversification is discomfort. When growth slows in the core business, expanding outwards can feel more exciting than fixing what’s broken. Unresolved issues, weak unit economics, unclear positioning, operational inefficiencies … These things don’t vanish when you diversify, they multiply to new areas. The same leadership blind spots and process failures are often replicated across a wider footprint. If you’re wondering whether diversification might be hurting you, feel free to ask for our input – sometimes a fresh perspective is all it takes.
Operational excellence doesn’t scale sideways
What works brilliantly in one context rarely translates seamlessly into another. Different customer segments require different value propositions. Different geographies demand different logistics, pricing structures and cultural understanding. Founders often underestimate how bespoke excellence truly is. Horizontal expansion assumes transferable competence – but in reality, each new area requires its own learning curve. The result can be a portfolio of businesses that are all “good enough,” but none exceptional.
Small and fast – Or big and slow?
Speed is one of the greatest advantages of entrepreneurial organisations. Diversification erodes it. As organisations grow broader, decisions require more stakeholders, more data reconciliation and more compromise. What once took days now takes weeks. Opportunities expire while you’re trying to coordinate a Teams meeting to discuss them. In fast-moving markets, this loss of velocity can be fatal. Competitors with narrower focus can outmanoeuvre diversified incumbents simply by deciding, and acting, faster.
Diversification can dilute brand meaning
Strong brands stand for something specific. They occupy a clear mental position in the customer’s mind. Diversification blurs that signal. Customers struggle to understand what the company truly excels at. Is it premium or mass? Specialist or generalist? Innovative or reliable? When brand meaning weakens, pricing power follows. What was once differentiation becomes confusion – and confusion is rarely profitable.
The most resilient businesses often look concentrated, not diversified
History is filled with companies that endured precisely because they stayed narrow. They dominated niches, controlled quality obsessively and reinvested relentlessly into their core advantage. Their resilience came not from spread, but rather from deep customer relationships, deep expertise and deep operational mastery. Concentration allowed them to absorb shocks because their fundamentals were strong, not because they were hedged.
Simplicity is not stagnation
Rejecting diversification does not mean rejecting growth. It means choosing growth paths that reinforce the core rather than distract from it. Vertical integration, geographic expansion of a proven model, or deeper penetration of the same customer segment can all drive scale without overwhelming complexity.
Don’t ask “Can we?” but “Should we?”
Most businesses diversify because they can, not because they should. Capital is available. Talent is curious. Opportunities appear abundant. But the cost of complexity is rarely paid upfront, it is paid slowly, in lost clarity, slower execution and diminished excellence. Leaders who understand this ask a harder question: what must we protect at all costs and what are we willing to walk away from?
Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact us for specific and detailed advice.
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