As a business owner, time is your only obstacle. You don’t have any more than anyone else, you don’t get any more than anyone else. You have 24 hours a day to accomplish your dreams, or not, there is no real maybe in this equation. You can get caught up in distractions that are not really important, or you can utilize your time by doing only the important tasks that put money into your business. The hardest part is deciding what the important things are.
Is the internet always right? No, at least when I try to use it, it isn’t. Is the internet wrong? Yes, sometimes it doesn’t get it. So stop believing everything and begin to analyze the information you are inundated with on a daily basis. Fairy tale stories of business success posted on the web are great for building motivation, but following the footprint of the individuals who achieved “inconsistent results” is not going to help you achieve your goals, its only going to help you mold your goals around their goals.
To grow your business, you can choose any avenue, cold calling, mail, social media, email, knocking on doors, and all of them will work but will require time, your time to be exact. So, this is where the real decision making comes into play.
What is your time worth?
Good question isn’t it? Should you do it yourself? Should you pay someone to do it? Only you can answer this question. As a business owner, should you be doing everything? No, probably not. Why? Because you don’t have time.
You didn’t buy a sailboat to keep it on the trailer or tied up at the harbour. Your sports car isn’t meant to be covered up, watch the commercial if you don’t believe me. How’s that new hobby coming along? Started that renovation? Been on that family trip you’ve been planning for years? No? Why not? Not enough time? Precisely!
Santa has elves right? Why? Because cutting and pasting isn’t his thing. Does he answer the phone? Probably not. Does he do his own bookkeeping, payroll, accounts payable? No, at least not according to my sources. Why do you think that is? Because he knows what his time is worth and how to spend it to drive the most productivity. He focuses on employee management and public relations. He’s got it figured out, and he’s got time, extra time to do things outside of his business. I only see him once a year so I’m certain my assumptions are correct.
What about the guy with the fried chicken? Heard of him? Yes, of course you have, because he spent his time working on things that moved his business forward. He didn’t even have the internet, or computers, or telephones at first. If the chicken came first, he came second, obviously, or maybe he just found some eggs. Whatever happened, he was there.
The fact is, businesses that move forward, have the same amount of time as you do. So as the business owner, stop for a minute and decide what that one thing is you can do to grow your business and do just that one thing. Stop trying to convince yourself that you are saving money. Leave it to the professionals. You’re only spending time so you can save money. Your only spending time so you can save money. Yes, you read that twice. Spend more money? Use less time? Yes, you’ve got this. But the reality is, it isn’t that simple.
The solution is to find skilled people to work for free. Nope, sorry, that became unpopular long before the fried chicken guy. The real solution is to spend some time upfront to get your other business aspects looked after so then you can utilize your time, I repeat, YOUR time. There are so many business services that you can outsource for a reasonable cost. Especially now that everything is cloud based, virtual or done remotely thanks to the internet.
Get everything else off your plate. Do only what you are skilled at. That one thing that gets your brand seen, your message delivered, ultimately growing your business. And, use as much time as you need.
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