“Help! I’m Spending More Time in My Business but The Results Don’t Match!”
I hear this problem often with solopreneurs and small business owners. Your business grows and there are more activities to take on throughout the day…but your income doesn’t seem to be matching the increased results.
Have you ever experienced this? I know that I have had times in my business as well like that. I was so crazy busy and had so many projects going at once, yet all I felt was stressed out rather than successful. It’s the catch-22 of being a business owner.
The challenge I find is that there needs to be more systems in your business, and focused time management in your day. These are my first tips to getting your business back on track and finding the results you are looking for.
3 Steps to Get Your Time Back AND Increase Your Income
1. Focus on your strengths (and your income producing activities)
Are you the best sales person in your team? Do you know the product best and have the highest success rate in meeting customers needs? This is where you should be spending your time and effort.
Rather than expanding your sales force so that you can spend more time managing or in the office, have you considered hiring an admin or backend support staff so that you can spend more time in the field, where you produce the best results.
Look at your tasks this week and month and write down a list of everything that you do. Then put a + sign next to every activity that leads to more income (whether a sales appointment, client check-in, generating new leads, etc.) and a * sign next to every activity that you excel at that is tied to creating more income. (You may be amazingly organized and great at filing papers, but that is not where your skills are best used as a business owner.)
2. Delegate Your Admin and Non-Essential Tasks
Delegating can seem like a tricky process. Sometimes you feel like you are hiring someone before you are ready to pay for them, but by creating the space in your day you will be able to maximize the time for more income producing activities.
This can start small…hire a VA (virtual assistant) to help with project management, email management or bookkeeping. Hire someone part-time to come into your office 1x a week or 1x a month to organize the paperwork and projects that you have running.
Sometimes in the process of expanding yourself, and creating a larger sales force, you may actually step out of the sales role. Analyze this and decide if this is the best way to delegate yourself out. To do this, often requires having thorough training process and an extensive handbook.
3. Automate Your Marketing
By this I mean that you are creating systems in your marketing that save you time while reaching more customers. Marketing is key to your business but can also be overwhelming if you take on too many activities at once (from networking, speaking, creating content, offering free guides, blogging, building relationships) then you can be overwhelmed as it all takes time.
One of the easiest marketing systems you can automate is your website and your lead funnel process. Technology today is amazing! The ability to stay in contact with your leads and continue to add value so that they grow to trust you, is invaluable!
This ranges from automating email responders, creating a Customer/Client Journey Map of the touch points and connections you have with them through the sales process, and knowing your ideal client so that your message speaks directly to them. This is my favorite part of working with any client…understanding their clients and discovering the best way to reach their ideal clients!
