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There all the time comes a moment in the lifetime of every businessman when you look at your watch, at your to-do list and ask yourself where the time has gone. I had mine when I was completely immersed in sorting emails, organizing my calendar, and responding to customer inquiries. Maintaining productivity was a necessity, but these tasks, while crucial, had no impact on my business. I tried my best, but I didn’t get the results I expected. I was in a constant cycle of low intensity movements and the feeling of degradation was obvious.
Then it hit me: I was getting lost in the details of $10 tasks when I might be growing a $10 million company.
The low-value task trap
First, as business owners, we are likely to take on all the work because no one knows our business higher than we do. It’s natural – after all, business is our child. But here’s the hard truth: it is important to contemplate that just because someone can do something doesn’t necessarily mean they need to. Every dollar spent on a $10 project is a dollar uninvested in a $10 million idea.
What I mean is those mundane, non-strategic activities that any worker in the company could do, but we do them ourselves because they make us consider that we are productive. But what is actually achieved? Not the big ones, not the priorities, not the plans that may change the entire course of your business. It seems that we are merely maintaining the establishment, without any progress.
1. Delegate the drudgery
The first motion I took was to delegate the activities that took me the most time. Replying to emails, scheduling meetings, and responding to some customer support inquiries are things that may easily be delegated to another person and will likely be done much higher by another person.
First of all, consider how much your time is value. If you are willing to pay $100 an hour for your time, why invest it in activities which you could outsource to others for $10 or $20 an hour? It’s necessary to do not forget that delegating is not a sign of laziness; as a substitute, it’s about doing as much as you may. This is because delegation permits you to let go of trivial tasks and as a substitute focus on key business issues, sales and improvement.
2. Automate mundane tasks
Automation is the next game changer. As technology advances, there are many tools available that will help ease the burden of mundane tasks. For example, scheduling meetings may be done using scheduling software and you do not have to waste time setting dates.
Once I began automating my schedule, I was able to save lots of hours on my own every week. It’s time to recapture growth opportunities – the things that actually make your business thrive. It’s not only about time; it’s about the ability to avoid getting lost in details and consistently considering about them when making strategic decisions.
3. Make an interview
Customer service is the heart of every business, but you do not have to do it alone. The most successful decision I made was to outsource customer support. I was capable of hire a team of people that could receive and reply to inquiries, solve problems, and generally help as I focused on growing the business.
Here we focus on establishing credibility. To convey your brand in the same way, you need to have confidence in your team or the service you have commissioned. Once we build this trust, outsourcing customer support becomes the obvious solution. This permits you to focus on doing business with necessary clients, negotiating contracts and consolidating your position in the market.
4. Streamline your creative
Content creation is one other area where many entrepreneurs get stuck. Yes, it is necessary, but it is not value spending several hours designing graphics or writing blog entries. I understand that I can write posts, but I am more practical if I determine what to post, when and what message to convey, while professionals do all the work.
Whether you hire a content author, graphic designer, or use content creation tools, this optimization gives you time to focus on strategic planning. Thanks to this, you may be consistently visible in your goal market, without sacrificing the ability to run your organization’s affairs.
5. Strengthen your team
Micromanaging is a serious waste of time that many business owners fall into without even realizing it. I was guilty of this too. This made me think that if I didn’t participate in every decision, every thing would go improper. But the reality is that by being overly controlling, I was holding my team members back and not making the most of my own time.
Delegating decision-making to your team not only saves time, but also promotes accountability among team members. Your team will go the extra mile, think outside the box and achieve goals if you trust them. It also creates an opportunity to look at the business from a broader perspective and understand that spotlight to detail is given.
6. Automate workflows
Instead of focusing on individual tasks, consider the overall work process. What operational tasks may be digitized? What measures can you are taking to make sure that things are managed properly without your intervention? Workflow automation is a useful gizmo for improving productivity.
For example, you may automate the creation of invoices, follow-up emails, and the setup of day by day tasks, helping you save time every week. The more you minimize the time it takes to manually complete these processes, the more time you have left to grow your business.
7. Prioritize big moves
Ultimately, it comes right down to focusing on the activities that can be most beneficial to your business. This means being unable to comply with work on activities that do not meet your goals and being willing to work on those who do. For me, this meant focusing on planning, building relationships and finding additional sources of income.
As a founder, chances are you’ll be consumed with regular business operations, but if you need to grow your business, it’s best to work on the right activities that can bring high profits. This can include anything from creating recent products to entering recent markets or improving existing operations for higher profitability.
Transformation
After implementing these changes, delegating, automating, outsourcing and empowering my team, my company modified drastically. Revenues began to grow, I managed to sign greater contracts and, most significantly, I had time to think about the development of my business.
The transition wasn’t easy. This involved allowing others to take over certain tasks. However, the result was greater than value it. By focusing on what’s necessary, I’ve managed to create a company that is not only profitable, but also sustainable.