business owners, make the most of what you've got

If you’re smart and good at what you do, you know that it’s not necessary to grow to be more profitable or to get more done.  It’s about making the most of what you’ve got.

Interestingly, Sonia Simone just sent out an email newsletter today in which she says, “Those perfect Martha-Stewart type people who actually get it all done? They're either gigantic liars or they're exceptionally good at delegating.”

As much as I like Sonia, there’s another option.  

There’s another way that people get it all done.  

It’s About Making the Most of What You’ve Got

Forgive the ‘corporate-speak’ and feel free to get out those old ‘corporate-meeting-bingo’ cards if you’re someone who has ditched the day job if you wish, but it’s what we call streamlining.

You don’t have to extend your reach or do more of what you’re doing now, you just need to find and get rid of wasted steps, wasted activities and wasted money.  

It’s Not Just About What You Do - It’s Also About How You Do It

It’s also about getting smarter about how you do what you’re doing.  And then continuing to get smarter about how you do what you’re doing moving forward.

Processes.  Structure.  You might be entrepreneurial and think you don’t need this, but you do.  The difference between being highly efficient and moderately efficient can be the difference between making money and closing your doors.  

Personal Productivity

Solid efficiency tools do apply to personal productivity as well.  So it’s even more important that solopreneurs learn these skills so they can apply them across the board.

But I Have A System

You have a system, you have a workflow, you have processes.  Maybe you bought a productivity or planning process that was designed by someone else.  Maybe it even works okay for you.  You can still take that and make it better, tighten it up, saving you more time.  And you can design the system to make it work for you - and make it work better.

Uh Oh - A Sports Metaphor

As if using corporate-speak isn’t bad enough, I’m going to use a sports metaphor.  Tiger Woods.  Best golfer in the world, right?  Right.  Does he go out and just hack away at the ball?  Is that how he got so good?  

No.  If you know any golfers at all, you know they know every detail of their swing.  (I don’t play golf, I just was raised by golfers.  Sorry.)  They know every detail of their swing.  And they drill it down to the smallest detail and that’s where they get better.  They adjust their stance.  They adjust their grip.  They adjust their follow-through. 

I could go on if you’d like.  Runners.  They pay attention to things like their stride.  

It’s the small things that make the difference between weekend-warriors and those doing it for a living.  And it’s the small things that makes the difference between being a touring pro and cashing those big checks winning tournaments.

I Get 35% of My Clients From Twitter

Even those who take the time to measure their marketing efforts sometimes get it wrong.  Working with someone recently, a client was excited that she knew that 35% of her clients came from Twitter.  That sounds great, doesn’t it?

Until we looked at the real stuff.  The real deal was that those 35% of people who ‘came from Twitter’ had simply followed her to Twitter from her blog.  So she was spending all this time on Twitter talking to the same people who were buying from her anyway.  And wondering where her time was going.

If you knew that, where would you spend your time?  What would you cut out? 

True Costs  & Fixing Problems For Good

Have you ever signed up for a service because it was cheap?  You think it’s great because you’re saving money.  But the thing crashes and it takes you an hour a week to fix it -- every week.  Maybe you think it’s worth that hour because the service is cheap.

But it’s not.  That’s an hour you could spend with clients, or building a new product.  That’s an hour copywriters could spend writing or photographers could spend shooting.  Sometimes spending a little more money, when you calculate the true cost, is worth it.

Stop fixing the problem over and over, fix the real problem for good and get on with spending your time where you need to be spending it.  Not on the problem, but on doing that stellar thing you do for your clients.

Close the Gaps & Then Get Better At What You Do

You can save time and money right now while making your business stronger simply looking at where you are now and closing the gaps where time and money are seeping out, and fixing problems once and being done with them. 

Then you can improve the way you’re doing what you’re doing and spend your time and money in the right places that lead to growth.

Spend One Hour & Save Four Hours a Week

All of this stuff?  They’re all skills.  They’re learn-able.  You can learn how to do this and apply it to making your marketing better, your sales process better, working with your clients better.  You can even apply this to how you manage that unmanageable email. 

And I've written before about how this is where it all starts.  It applies to any place that your business has 'moving parts', which is everywhere.  

Smart business owners and solopreneurs know that it’s about making the most of what you’ve got.  Getting a true look at where you are now, closing the gaps, and then tightening it all up is how you do that. 

All the best!

deb

Comments

[Viviana]

Thanks, Deb! As I've heard: don't obsess and fret and strive for flawless. Bring what you have.

Most of our wasted time is spent in worry and in the unnecessary trails that rob us of our efficiency and productivity.

[Deb Owen]

Couldn't have said it better myself, Viviana. Thanks!
All the best!
deb