Getting things done continues to be an overwhelming challenge for most small business owners. Sometimes, the list of tasks seems to be beyond attainable and appears to have no end! It’s not that these things don’t have merit or that someone important is asking you for them, it’s just that there’s not enough time in the day- right?

Tradition Time Management Can be Detrimental to aSmall Business Owner
Time management approaches have been sout after by small business owners for decades. The whole industry reached a ground swell about 20 years ago with the advent of the Franklin planner, the Day Timer and a while host of other systems to capture the focus (and investment) of busines people everywhere. Unfortuneately, none of these systems really changed the small business owner’s ability to make better use of the time they have or get better results from the businesses they own. Why… becasue time management as a concept is an illusion! You only have so much time and it cannot be managed like others things because you can’t stop it, reserve it or allocate it to someone else. It’s the most valuable resource you have and you can’t replace what you lose or make more if you waste it.

What does work is the concept of knowing what you need to spend time on that produces the greatest return in your business. Get really clear about what you should be doing to drive revenue, attract more of your best clients and let others do the things that are not your best fit. Let me explain-

Joseph M. Juran was on to something
There’s a universal concept called the Pareto Principle. You may know it as the 80/20 rule. It was first introduced into business by business management expert- Joseph M. Juran and named after Vilfredo Pareto. Simply put, 80% of all activity, results, accomplishments, etc come from 20% of the source. If you belong to a networking group, chances are that 80% of the work is being done by 20% of the members. In the retail grocery business, 80% of a store’s volume comes from 20% of the item selection. And, in most businesses, 80% of your revenues come from 20% of your clients. Likewise, 80% of your profits come from 20% of your product or service offerings.

Juran observed that Vilfredo Perato’s principle had application in the business world as well. In just about all business situations, you can apply this principle. It’s as dependable as gravity! But what does it mean for using your time better?

It’s About Focusing on Results
In most traditional time management systems, much of the focus goes to managing your schedule. Although priority is given to tasks, the main priciple involves getting more done in a given day or week. Unless the business owner has objectively assessed where their revenue, clients and profits come from, there’s no asurance that the things you schedule are the right things for you to be engaged in. As an example, if book keeping is a low prioity task and something you are not good at, why even spend time on it. The best thing you could do is outsource it.

Look at your business and using the Pareto Principle, write down the activities that will produce 80% of the results that grow your bsuiness. If you missed ‘sales and marketing’, you should rethink your business approach. Sales and marketing are the only activities that generate revenue. Everything else (although important to some degree) is an expense. And when it comes to generating the needed sales and revenue, who will be more committed to acheiving this than you- the owner of the business.

Separate the Important from the Minutia
To get a quick handle on this issue, go back and look at your schedule for the last 2 weeks. If you have no schedule, the problem is obvious. If your schedule has only appointments with other people and there’s lots of open space, it also reveals a lack of focus on the important areas. Now, you might say, “I don’t use my calendar for everything I do”. Herein lies the problem. Read on.

Look at all the things you spent time on and the time you spent and create a list with 2 columns; one for important activities like sales, marketing, management, client visits, etc and the other column for evrything else. You’ll quickly see where most of your time goes and why you may not be getting what you want from your business. If your calendar is not detailed enough for this exercise, spend the next 2 weeks writing down everything you do in 15 minute increments. It sounds tedious, but the learning you’ll get will be a major game changer!

Take Control of The Growth Aspects of Your Buisness
Once you figure out where you spend your time, think about the things you should be focused on to acheive growth in your business. Things like evaluating who your ideal clients are and where they can found; who your best referral partners might be; what networking groups or events you need to attend; developing a compelling referral program for your current clients or creating an ad campaign that drives more traffic to your website. All of these activities lead to reveneue generation and deserve time on your calendar.

If you have employees, think about how to give them direction and let them perform with scheduled check in meetings to monitor performance. Look at things in your bsuiness that others could do (inside or outside your business) and get them off your desk. Ask yourself this question everytime you are faced with doing a task. “Who else could do this?” (and if no one knows how) follow up with “who can I train to do this?”

Whatever type of business you are involved in (solo-preneur, partnership, management, multi-divisonal organization, etc. this approach to using your time to get the most important things done is a ‘life changer’ in terms of how you look at your business the goals you want to reach.

In the end, you’ll be much happier and feel the power of getting vitaul, growth related initiatives accomplished that produce more revenue, good clients and profits for your business.

Most business owners today aren’t happy with the amount of revenue their business is generating. They’re working longer hours, applying greater effort, spending more for marketing and receiving lower revenue. So what’s going on?

If this is happening to you, it’s important to remember that those results are in direct proportion to the actions you’ve been taking? If you want different results, then you MUST take different actions.

So if that’s all that’s required, why don’t business owners just do that? The answer may shock you. They can’t stop repeating their past patterns of behavior. Their past patterns have become ingrained into their subconscious mind and have established themselves as habits.

How This Works:

Have you ever listened to art experts accurately identify a recently discovered painting as belonging to a specific artist such as Rembrandt? How can they tell who painted that picture? Patterns… that’s how. Even though the painting may look completely different than all the others that artist painted, his or her patterns, sometimes referred to as their “style,” continuously comes through with each and every painting.

The exact same thing happens to business owners as well. All of us have been mentally conditioned to perform our daily activities in a certain way. These activities have become habits through constant and daily repetition. The problem is that the majority of these habits… more than 80% of them… are non-productive. They simply don’t contribute to the generation of revenue for your business.

Imagine Your True Potential!

Imagine what would happen to your revenue if you could reduce that 80% down to 60%. If you replaced that 20% with revenue producing activities, you would DOUBLE your income? Do you know how easy it is to reduce that 80% down to 60%… or even down to 40%… which doubles revenue again? Exciting, isn’t it?

So, what is the cost to you and your business if you fail to change this behavior?  What if you could devote more time and take action on more revenue producing tasks?

What if you could remove the mental barriers that may be sabotaging your success?

What if you could get laser-focused on your highest revenue -producing activities?

How can you learn to do all of this?  Join me on my upcoming webinar ‘Change Your Game in 2012’ and have your best year ever!  I’m going to show you what to look for that’s holding you back and preventing you from having the kind of business success you truly deserve.  I’m also going to show you how to establish a systematic way of running and growing your business so 2012 doesn’t end up being a repeat of 2011!

Why am I doing all this and not charging for it?

My past 25 years of management, marketing and sales in some of America’s most successful companies has given me a wealth of experience (and hard knocks) on how to effectively and profitably build a business and sharing it with committed business owners is the least I can do to support the small business community.

If you want to participate, simply follow this link http://bit.ly/ChangeYourGamein2012  and register.  I can only accommodate a certain number of people, so sign up today.  Additionally, you will receive my e-book on the 17 tops ways to grow your business just for registering for the webinar.

Changing the way you think starts with taking action on different things.  Committing yourself to learning a new approach to business building is a great way to begin the new year!

Want to be more effective at managing your business? Make decisions quicker and take action sooner! 

How do you feel after you’ve decided on something important in your business and you’ve taken the first step towards making it happen?  It’s like a shot of caffeine or the sensation of just winning something!  You feel good about getting it started (or done) and relieved that you don’t have to think about it any longer.  Unfortunately, for every good decision that gets put into practice, there are many more that simply miss the boat of opportunity. 

To be sure, it’s most important to consider your options and seek advice if you aren’t comfortable with the subject before deciding to move forward. Many times, however, the research people continue doing or ‘that’ additional person they feel needs to be consulted with, only drags out the deliberation process causing good, timely decisions to get dropped. 

If you find yourself spending too much time sifting through mounds of information and thinking about everyone else’s opinions; afraid to take action because ‘what if you’re wrong!’, you are already in a bad spot.  Making good, confident decisions and acting on them is a behavior that takes practice.  Like every other body part that needs exercise, your brain needs to be trained to evaluate, deliberate, decide and move forward.  After all, the fun is in knowing you are engaged in doing something, right! 

Set a Deadline and Stick to It:

Regardless of how important or how big the decision is and what you must commit to in order to make your actions successful, set a date when your decision will be made.  Align this date with whatever factors determine the opportunity’s availability and make a hard commitment to act by that time.  If you do your homework and decide it’s not for you, you will still feel good that you made a conscious decision not to move forward.  Having to walk away from things because you waited too long only contributes to your continued inability to move in a timely fashion. 

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know:

This is a symptom of a great idea that opens up a whole new area of opportunity for you. The idea maybe something you have been mulling over for awhile or a suggestion by someone else that got your cerebral juices flowing.  Let’s say you have an industrial tool making business and a friend suggested you look for government contracts.  You think, ‘wow, I don’t get any of the government’s business- I need to do this!’ But then you realize you have no idea how to start this new revenue venture.  It’s likely going to take time and money to meet whatever requirements are needed and the ability to connect to the right folks.  Just thinking about where to start could keep this decision from ever getting off the ground. 

One thing to consider is checking to see if there are people that provide this service as a business.  Just by Googling ‘government contracts for small businesses’ you’ll get a list of services to contact.  You could also ask among your business contacts to see if anyone else has done this.  This usually works best as anyone who has been there is likely to want to show you the ropes. 

The debilitating effects of too much information:

I’m not talking about a TMI moment you experience while having dinner with someone.  I’m referring to the endless sources of information available to anyone who likes to do a little research.  If you don’t limit your sources, you can literally stay in investigation mode forever!  Pick 3 sources of information that pertain to your decision and get what you need from each.  If you are unfamiliar with the area of interest, look for websites or books that can bring you up to speed on the ‘ins and outs’.  If other  people’s opinions matter, find a website with reviews to look at.  If the issue at hand involved a major area of your business that you’d like to know more about, seek out a trusted expert to fill in the knowledge gaps.  Then, weigh the pros and cons and decide. 

Consider someone who can help you through the decision making process:

Taking action has benefits in so many areas, it’s a shame most people feel more secure waiting for someone or something to give them a sign.  If you typically wait and often regret not moving sooner or faster once the opportunity has passed, consider getting an advisor to bounce ideas and actions off.  Many times, you already know the correct direction to head in, you just need confirmation that everything has been weighed and considered before committing yourself.  In the end, your life will be less complicated and your confidence much greater when you tackle decisions promptly and make decisions that move you from deliberation to action. 

More Business Growth Resources:

If you have an important decision to make or an area of your business that needs to change and you want some objective input, go to http://www.growthsourcecoaching.com/Need-Answers-Ask-Steve.html or visit www.GrowthSourceCoaching.com and get help moving forward. 

If you would like more information on various topics having to do with small business growth strategies, tune in to Steve’s weekly Radio Show on BlogTalk Radio- ‘The Small Biz Growth Show’.  Each Tuesday at 11:00am (PST) and Thursday at 1:00pm (PST), Steve and his co-host, Cash Miller, discuss specific business building topics that small business owners can take action on.  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/the-small-biz-growth-show

Originally posted 2011-09-28 15:38:34. Republished by Blog Post Promoter