The Key to Business Success - Part III
Last month we talked about how major break throughs can result from Having An Open Mind . This month let's look at the next 3 Key Attitudes
5. Business is Fun!
You have decided to go into business for a number of reasons; more money, more control over your time, more free time. Unfortunately, if you are like many business owners, you let the business take control of you. It may even suck the life out of you. But life should be fun. Since owning a business should give you more life, it only stands to reason that business should be fun! To have fun, I suggest you treat it like a game. First, learn the rules. Second, keep score. Finally, have fun. The right business coach can help you with all three.
6. Time is Your Most Valuable Asset
If you spend every cent you have you can go out and earn more money. In this sense the amount of money we can have access-to is infinite. Unfortunately, we all have a finite amount of time on this earth. If we waste a minute, we have lost it forever.
While this may seem intuitively obvious, amongst the business owners I meet, this one simple principle is the most important yet underappreciated principle of business. Let me describe one conversation that is representative of conversations I have had time and time again with different business owners. We will call the business owner Mark.
Coach: Tell me how your business is performing relative to your goals.
Mark: Well we are doing OK but I know we can do better.
Coach: If you know what to do, what is keeping you from doing it?
Mark: I always get interrupted and I can never find the time to do the new things.
Coach: Is your business profitable?
Mark: Yes it is. But I know I could easily do better.
Coach: How much would you like to make in the next twelve months?
Mark: After all expenses $150,000.
Coach: Do you believe that this is a realistic objective?
Mark: Absolutely.
Coach: How many hours a week would you like to work?
Mark: 50 hours per week and I would like to take 5 weeks vacation (including holidays).
Coach : So Mark, that means you would like your business to earn about $64 for every hour that you work. ($150,000/(50 hours x 47 weeks)).
After an examination of Mark's workweek, it was obvious that he was involved in a number of activities that were not worth $64 per hour. If Mark spends 35% of his time working on tasks that could be handled by a $15/hour employee he is either going to have to work a lot more hours than he wants to, or he is going to have to get his business earning more like $90 per hour for the balance of the time he works.
Now, I am quick to advise owners to be careful with how they spend money. But Mark's penny pinching was not in his best interest. Mark was trying to save paying more wages (about $12,000 per year). But, by trying to save money it was costing him considerably more. He was not having fun and he could have been implementing changes that would yield him more like $50,000 in additional profit (4 times what he thought he was saving).
As an owner, the most important decision you make is what you spend your time doing. Owners that I meet who work too many hours and do not make as much as they want, often treat their time very causally. Typically, they do not plan their day and tend to be reactive. Often they do not even keep a calendar. Oh yes they have one, but there are very few times that are actually booked. And rarely can they tell you how they actually spent their time. Conversely, successful owners plan and track their days and their week as carefully as they spend their money.
I recommend that you emulate the successful owners. Think about what will give you the best long term ROI (Return On Investment) for your time. Do not be distracted by saving a few short-term dollars if you have an opportunity to create something that will generate returns for you year after year.
Developing new attitudes and habits usually requires breaking old habits. To increase your chances of success you need to surround yourself with new like-minded people that can help you.
If you are serious about taking your business to the next level contact us to arrange a complimentary consultation.
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