Focus Your Energy

I hear people time and again saying they are so motivated to build up their business, and yet there always seems to be a let down because profits don’t seem to keep up with that motivation level. As a start up company, you wear many hats because you have to. Lack of capital and resources hold you back, but you still manage to grow because of the deep commitment level you have, and the long hours you are willing to put in. Then as time goes by, and you continue to grow, you become the controller. The person who has a hand into everything because you are the ultimate caretaker. You started this company; you grew this company, and you’re going to control this company!

The key to focusing your energy is to invest your time where you’re good, and let others handle the other stuff. In simple language, that is the key of focusing your energy. As your business grows, and you can afford to put more of your capital resources into growing your company with people. Hire employees to take over the office and administrative tasks. Hire a bookkeeper to control the data entry. Hire an accountant to control your accounting and your tax information. Hire production people to do day to day production tasks. This will give you the time to do what you need to do – and what you do best!

What is it that you like to do best? Chances are its what brought you to self-employment in the first place. You like weddings. You enjoy helping a bride and groom enjoy their day. You love creating memories that are appreciated by people throughout your community. This is where you need to focus your energy. You need to continue to think of marketing ideas that will grow the business, to give all of those you have hired more responsibilities to keep them happy! It is truly a circle of life, one that continues to feed off of the next idea. As you grow, so does your business, and your lifestyle!

Your Action Step For The Week

Focusing your energy is one of the most difficult things a self-employed person will ever do. Most self-employed people fall into the “I can do it myself” mentality. That’s ok if you’re comfortable with your current situations. But if you really want to grow your business, you need to change your thinking. A great book on how to move out of the “I can do it myself” mentality is Michael E Gerber’s “The E Myth Revisited”. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is trying to grow their business to new levels. If you’ve never read it, buy it and read it now. Even if you have read it, read it again. I reread simple-to-read books like this again and again to get the concepts down.

Take a look at the jobs you like to do within your business. What makes you happy? What makes you grumble? What do you put off until you absolutely have to do it? What can other people do very easily? Divide this list into two areas: a list of things you like to do and things you don’t like to do. How can you hire out the jobs on your “don’t like to do” list? Then look at your “like to do” list. What items on this list actually make you money? Marketing, sales, generating ideas, research – these things bring in money. They are what make your business grow, and become more profitable. Look for ways to give away the items you enjoy, but are time consuming and don’t really do anything to help your business grow.

Remember this idea is a work in progress. There is no way for a small business to hire employees and contractors for 75% of your workload over night. Instead, think small. “In 2007, I will let an accountant take over my accounting functions and my tax preparation”. “In 2008, I will hire one employee to help me with my administrative tasks.” These are small, achievable and realistic goals to have for one business year. Really focus on keeping these goals, and then focus on what you will accomplish with the timesavings. You will only be able to grow if you fill those timesavings with items that will generate more revenue. And above all, take action!