If you’re a business owner who feels a little frazzled or
who is on the hustle hamster wheel or
you just want to grow your business faster….
Then this is for you!
But I will warn you …. The content has very little to do with getting more done in less time! It’s not about productivity techniques…
It has to do with Thinking like the CEO of your business!
Here are my top 5 quick ways to jump off the hustle hamster wheel and easily regain 6-10 hours per week in your business!
1. Close your office door
Years ago, I was working with an accountant who was having trouble getting her work done because of staff interruptions. I recommended that she close her office door and train staff to try to figure the answer out for themselves or bring back the question when her door was open!
Very quickly staff learned how to figure out the answers for themselves!
Now perhaps you don’t have staff but you have children or a husband at home who continually interrupt your work flow. Even the youngest child and the oldest husband can learn not to interrupt you when your office door is closed! Well, at least mine has learned!
2. Stop being chief everything officer
I remember the early days of my retail business where I was the Chief Everything Officer – from sales, HR, inventory control, decorating and even toilet cleaning. However, it wasn’t the best use of my time. So, when hiring staff, I became aware of each person’s strengths and allowed them to work in their zone of genius.
When we work in our true zone of genius, it brings us so much more fun and enjoy and we love our businesses once again. For instance, I shine when I’m teaching. The more I can teach – the more fun I have and the more profit my business makes!
Another client of mine was the co-owner of a multimillion-dollar business. One day she was telling me how she was pressed for time and had to run to make her own travel arrangements! What? Was that in her zone of genius? No, of course, not! She wasn’t thinking like a true CEO.
Do you have a support ecosystem (team and systems) that will free up time for you? This is an absolute necessity if you are going to scale your business and step off the hustle hamster wheel.
3. Wasting time on bad marketing
The number one job of your marketing is to bring you qualified leads & prospects (noticed I said qualified!).
Take a look at all the marketing that you do – networking, your website, your social media, speaking, fancy funnels – are they bringing you a consistent stream of qualified leads? If they are – congratulations! Then your marketing is working.
However, too many business owners do bad marketing:
- Travel to conferences and come home with no qualified leads.
- Speak on podcasts that don’t broadcast to their specific audience.
- Have outdated websites or social media profiles.
- Try fancy funnels and technology that don’t really work!
- Don’t know who their dream client is.
- Have trouble explaining what they do so that they get hired.
Bad marketing is a colossal waste of time and resources. Clarifying your messaging and tweaking your marketing will save you hours and hours (and make your business more profitable).
4. Allowing incoming phone calls and emails to interrupt your work
An article in the Washington Post estimated that workflow interruptions could be costing you 6 hours a day!!! (see article here)
Using a calendar to time block your activities such as returning phone calls will free up more time than you imagine. Focusing on just the ONE main activity of returning calls will make you so much more efficient
5. Pretending to be the Lone Ranger (going at it alone)
Even the Lone Ranger had a side-kick, Tonto. As the CEO of your business, it can be a lonely place with no one to brainstorm with; no one to share your fears and doubts with and no one to keep you accountable or push you into new opportunities!
That’s the job of a good mentor or coach! Believe me — having a coach will save you thousands of hours and your return on investment will be outstanding. (I’ve always had a coach, sometimes more than one!)
My client Cynthia is a prime example of how to get more fun, freedom and profit into your business. When Cynthia first approached me, she was headed to burn out and was ready to give up her law practise. While working with me, she created a strong support ecosystem with systems and a growing team freeing up many hours a week for her. Together we also super-niched her law practise so that high-value clients were attracted to her giving her more joy and profit! Her marketing (speaking to super-niched groups) was working.
Cynthia is now a happy lawyer, leading her team and seeing a bright future for her business.
WHAT CAN YOU IMPLEMENT THIS WEEK?
Is there just one of these quick tips that you could implement this week? Or by the end of this month?
Imagine the freedom and fun you could have in your business!
If you know someone who could use some help getting off the hustle hamster wheel, I’d be so pleased if you would give them my name. I’d be happy to chat with them.
YES, YOU CAN DO IT!
Diana
