The first article in this series listed more than 25 tactics to increase your business success, all of them based on my experience. I started with nothing and didn’t get to college, so I know you can achieve maximum success, regardless of your education. E-mail me to get the first article (or any of the other articles) in the series. Each takes a closer look at one of the tactics listed in that first article.
Time, our most precious commodity. There never seems to be enough. But maybe there is more time than we think? Don’t think about your time in hours. Think minutes. Even seconds.
How do we gain a few extra minutes here and there?
- Delegate – I know, I know, you can do it in the time it takes to delegate it. That’s likely true on the first time and half true the second time. There are things we can delegate that will save 10 minutes a day. But we won’t invest the 30 minutes it takes to teach someone else to do them. Maybe even a few teaching sessions. So that failure on our part costs us 10 minutes a day FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES. That’s a lot of 10-minute segments, folks. Think about EVERYTHING you do. Could someone else do it with some training? You will be surprised how many things you will find to delegate.
- Kick your inner perfectionist to the curb – I know, you think no one else can do it as well as you. You are likely completely correct. But if they can do it 90% as well, and that’s good enough. If it will free you to do more important things, then it’s a win. Stop being a perfectionist. Competitors used to ask me, “Sturgeon, how can you find 150 employees you can tolerate, and I can’t find 5?” I tell them to look in the mirror; it’s all about hiring, training, mentoring, leading, and, err, err, tolerating mediocrity. I know it’s an ugly word, but let’s keep it real folks, not everyone is equally smart, skilled, qualified or experienced. Get over it.
- Know the answer to this question – What is your time worth? It’s not the same for everyone. But there is a number at which you can hire someone to do your job as well as you do, or it’s what you charge the company for your services, or it’s what you want to make. It’s more than $10-$20 per hour for sure! Now, why did you stay home to wait for the cable repair guy last Thursday, missing 3 hours of work? Why are you washing your truck? Think big to do big. Hire others to do things you shouldn’t, can’t or won’t do. Now there’s a catch here, you don’t do this so you can play golf, generally. REALLY use the expensive time. Study your financials, work on the marketing plan, go through the bids for new equipment, or maybe work on your will! (Yes, it was in another article in this series about keeping lists, and prioritizing, and as bad as it sounds, working on your will, which you simply haven’t had time to do, is more important than washing your truck.)
If you use the tools here I’ve discussed, I guarantee you can find an hour per day. That’s 5 hours per week, and 260 hours per year that can be used to make you smarter, more effective, and likely make you more satisfied with what you get done daily, and then HAPPIER!
Remember only you can make business great!
Ron Sturgeon, Mr. Mission Possible, has been a successful business owner for more than 35 years. As a small business consultant, he can deliver wisdom and advice gleaned from an enviable business career that started when he opened a VW repair business as a homeless 17-year-old and culminated in the sale of several businesses he built to Fortune 500 companies.
Ron has helped bankers, lawyers, insurance agents, restaurant owners, and body shop owners, as well as countless salvage yard owners to become more successful business people. He is an expert in helping small business owners set the right business strategies, implement pay-for- performance, and find new customers on the web.
As a consultant, Ron shares his expertise in strategic planning, capitalization, compensation, growing market share, and more in his signature plainspoken style, providing field-proven, and high-profit best practices well ahead of the business news curve. Ron is the author of nine books, including How to Salvage More Millions from Your Small Business.
To inquire about consulting or keynote speaking, contact Ron at 817-834-3625, ext. 232, rons@MrMissionPossible.com, 5940 Eden, Haltom City, TX 76117.