• Are you a busy fool?  • What have you actually achieved today?

• Have you been busy all day delivering your service to your customers? 

• Did you earn enough to pay yourself today?

• Did you earn enough to pay yourself what you are worth?? 

• Did you have to work more than 8 hours today? 

• Is todays customer going to come back to you for more work in the future?

These questions may seem harsh, but if you are working hard, it’s only right that the money you get paid reflects that! 

OK, I am being harsh. The truth is, I meet many busy people who work hard. Who’re hard at it every hour of the day and even at the weekends. Nice, hardworking, clever people who are simply not achieving the success they deserve.

Why? 

Because they’re working in the business rather than on the business. They’re operational, not strategic. They’re managing, not leading. There’s no clear focus on the end goal, that’s if there even is an end goal.

Perhaps you’re self-employed. You’re great at what you do but getting enough customers that could use your services is something you avoid at all costs.

Here’s how to change things:

1) Get Out of The Weeds

This seems like a crazy idea to any business owner the first time they hear it, but believe me, it always pay off. Spend some time not doing the ‘work’ and think long and hard about the things that go wrong in your business regularly. Are there processes within your business that don’t work as well as they could? How could you do things differently? 

Remember – What got you here, won’t get you there! 

Is there a typically busy period at the same time every year, or every month? How can you plan for that time better?

Picture things working perfectly, what does that look like? Write it down and implement a new procedure that will make that happen.

Be pro-active, NOT reactive.

2) Improve Your Work-Life Balance

Some people have their best business ideas while they’re sweating their socks off at the gym, others, while taking a drive. You’ve probably noticed that some of your best ideas have come to you while you’re doing other things. You need proper down time., it is essential to help you reflect, reset and re-energise.

I learnt this particular lesson the hard way, your family needs you, not earning, but in person. Everything we do as a business owner is for the family, but the most important thing to them isn’t the money, the goals, the dreams….. No, it’s your presence. Make time to be with them!

Having a healthy work life balance is more important today than it has ever been. It will help you stay sane and put everything into perspective. It’s easy to get wrapped up in our own little world at work that everything just seems unachievable, it never is, you just need the time to process, think and plan.

3) Outsource Certain Tasks

Do you do your own accounts? If so, STOP IT! It’s not your area of expertise and so you’re likely to get things wrong. The money you spend on a good accountant will give you more time to work ON your business and in doing so you will easily earn more than you pay the accountant.

Consider outsourcing your jobs, not all the time, but maybe 1 or 2 days a week so you can focus on the growth of your business. If you offer a valuable skill, there are people out there who are as good as you. You may not want to admit it, but the fact is, there are! Find one you trust, let them prove themselves, you may be able to offer them work in exchange for a finders’ fee of some sort. Many business owners have found this an effective method of giving themselves some time to work on their businesses thereby increasing profits.

4) Personal Development and Training

I have some amazing clients!

People with skills I could only dream of having; business owners who deliver great work and brilliant customer service. They have all this, but they can’t sell. They don’t understand the importance of marketing. And, they don’t fully understand that in order to run a successful business you need good mix of operational, interpersonal and business development skills.

Why do businesses fail? 

One reason and one reason only: Because people don’t make enough money. Don’t let that person be you.

Consider investing in a few self-development books (contact me I have hundreds of recommendations because I read…. A LOT!) TED talks are great, download the app and watch ones that are appropriate to you and the areas you want to develop. There are thousands of great resources out there, some of them free– that can help you develop the essential skills you need to run a successful business.

5) It’s All About the Money

You need to get a grip on the money coming in and out of your business.

For the business owner, everything is about finances. Do you know what your profit margin is?

Work out the money you need to live on, PLUS your “I wish I had” earnings. Are you earning enough to live on? What’s the difference between the two?

You may need the help of a business coach for this one if you find figures a bit scary. I’ll help you get on top of the money side.

6) A Great Plan

Again, you’ll need to get out of the weeds for a while. The results are well worth it, though.

If you want to work on your business rather than in it, you need to see the bigger picture.

Planning for your business regularly keeps you in tune with your vision, your goals, your dreams. It also ensures that you are regularly ‘checking in’ with yourself (and for some of you with your team) to ensure you are doing the right things to move you closer to those goals. On some occasions you will find that you are slightly off course. Regular planning will help you get back on track.

Download my FREE planning toolkit and start planning today.

Is all of this easy?

Of course not, nothing good in life is easy. If it was, everybody would be doing it! But you’re different from everybody else. You want to grow, develop and build a great life.

There are no short cuts to doing things differently. Working on rather than in your business isn’t easy. Having helped countless business owners to take their business to the next level, I’d love to help you build the life and the business you know you can have!

Get in touch today and start your journey towards your dream life.