That Dang Ocean Won't Boil!
Fred Joyal • November 12, 2025
There’s a business expression I love: “Don’t try to boil the ocean.”
It’s a vivid way to say don’t take on more than you can possibly do well. Yet so many entrepreneurs, myself included at times, fall into that trap. We keep adding another product line, another side venture, another “can’t-miss” opportunity until our energy is scattered and our results get diluted.
When you try to focus on everything, you end up being effective at nothing.
I’ve been there, launching side businesses, making investments without enough investigation, and chasing too many good ideas at once. The result? A lot of effort gets spread too thin.
Now, I’ve learned to narrow my focus.
I pick one top priority. Okay, maybe a couple of secondary ones, too, but the main one always wins. It gets my time, my energy, and my full attention. If there’s time left for the rest, great. If not, I don’t sweat it.
This same concept applies to your marketing strategy. Too many entrepreneurs think they need to appeal to everyone to succeed. Not true.
When we built 1-800-DENTIST, people assumed we had a majority of the dentists in the country as clients because we were the biggest referral service. In reality, we generated nearly $50 million a year with less than 3% of U.S. dental practices participating. We didn’t need everyone. We just needed the right few.
That’s true across almost every industry. Think about bottled water brands. How many found huge success by serving just a small slice of the market until a giant like Pepsi or Coke bought them?
The beauty of not needing everyone is that you can market more precisely, focus more deeply, and serve your ideal customers exceptionally well.
Companies also do this by adding more and more features to their product. The challenge with that is your salespeople can’t pitch effectively because the potential client is getting demo fatigue halfway through the presentation.
Which is why the best salespeople ask questions to figure out what the customer cares about, and narrows their focus to those features. The novice salesperson believes the more features they present the more excited the customer becomes. This happens almost never.
In another venture I’m involved with—a premium cannabis company—we aim for the top end of the market. We offer the most expensive product in the state, and yet we generate as much revenue as the cheapest one. Why? Because we’re clear on who we serve and unapologetic about it.
And that brings us back to boldness—my favorite topic. It takes boldness not just to start a business, but also to resist distraction and say no to the shiny next thing. It’s not bold to believe you can do five things at once brilliantly. That’s hubris, not courage.
And the difference between boldness and hubris is very often the difference between success and failure.
There is abundance in the niches, and simplicity conquers complexity every time.
THIS WEEK’S BOLDNESS EXERCISE:
Turn down one opportunity without explaining why.
Maybe it’s a meeting, a pitch, a dinner invite, or a webinar. Simply decline. Resist that urge to give a reason (especially a fictional one!)
You’ll find yourself with more time and more energy to move forward on what really matters. Fight the FOMO. Protect your focus.
Finally, don’t just be bold. Be superbold!
—Fred
About Fred Joyal
Fred was the co-founder of Futuredontics, the parent company of 1-800-DENTIST, which, over 30 years, generated over $1 billion in revenue. His latest book, Superbold: From Under-Confident to Charismatic in 90 Days, is an Amazon and Wall Street Journal bestseller. He is also the author of two books for the dental industry, Everything is Marketing: The Ultimate Strategy for Dental Practice Growth, published in 2010, and Becoming Remarkable: How to Create a Dental Practice Everyone Talks About, published in 2015. He has acted in, written or directed over 200 television commercials and radio spots. Learn more about Fred by visiting his webpage online.
