The opinions expressed by Entrepreneur authors are their very own.
Everyone has time, and yet it is one of the poorest resources in the world. Money comes and goes as quickly as the blink of an eye, but time is the essence of life. You could also be looking for more revenue or getting a different deal; nevertheless, the number of hours in a day stays constant. A big number of entrepreneurs waste their priceless time on activities that do not add value to their business, as an alternative of building a billion-dollar company.
I experienced this firsthand. When I began my business, I agreed to answer emails, do administrative work, and evaluate unfavorable options that didn’t contribute to growth. Knowing time as a critical resource led me to focus on establishing systems and procedures that may help me reclaim my time and build a successful business.
1. Reclaiming your time starts with building the right team
The most precious resource you have is time, and once wasted you’ll be able to never get it back. If you invest it in areas that are not core to the company, in things that do not require the unique skills of the owner, entrepreneur or CEO, then you definitely are distracting what needs to be focused on to create leverage. This is where the right team comes into play.
The key here, of course, is to discover individuals who can’t only act as strong counterparts to your skills, but are also willing and able to take full responsibility for specific points of your business. You don’t have to control every variable. Once you have a team that is fully in sync, don’t focus so much on being IN business, but at work ON business.
For example, if you spend most of your time dealing with customer complaints, it’s best to let someone with good communication skills handle them. Ask another person to relieve you of accounting, social media, and on a regular basis tasks. When you have the right people on board, you are not the bottleneck in the business. You are the captain of the ship, not a mechanic busy fixing holes in the ship.
Useful information: Name three activities that eat your time but are not productive in achieving your company’s goals. You can delegate these tasks to a more competent team member or outsource them to someone who can manage them. Take back those hours and devote them to strategy, vision, and even sleep, because a drained mind is a weak mind.
2. Systems and processes are the basis for scaling
While the team is a strong foundation, this is where the processes and systems come in to help the team work efficiently. A business without processes is a ship without a purpose, sailing on the sea without a compass and never reaching the shore. Consider this: If you get stuck answering the same questions, solving the same problems, or putting out the same fires, your company is missing processes that would function without you. The more unified you develop into, the more you’ll be able to develop without complicating your life and that of your company.
Automation might be very helpful in this case. Chores that steal your time could also be repetitive and might be easily handled with technology. Whether it’s the customer onboarding process, lead management, or responding to customer inquiries, having such systems in place allows you to release more time for more vital tasks.
Useful information: First of all, plan each of the processes going down in your company and write them down. Where can automation be used and where can the number of repetitions be reduced? Examples include project management applications, email autoresponders, and customer relationship management (CRM) programs.
3. The $10 Task and the Billion Dollar Vision
Unfortunately, the worst thing that may occur to an entrepreneur is getting lost in the details. You resolve, “I can do it faster myself,” and while that will occur in the short term, it’s a counterproductive approach. An hour of sitting in front of a computer correcting website errors, entering data, or organizing files could appear productive, but it doesn’t contribute to your company’s billion-dollar goal.
What is the cost of doing these tasks yourself? It’s not only about the time factor, but fairly about the value of time lost in other priceless processes. Every hour you spend on $10 tasks is an hour you are not planning on haggling for a deal or exploring latest markets.
To successfully double, triple, quadruple, or much more your impact, you wish to focus on the activities that bring you the best returns. This is where time and money meet. But by doing this, you gain time to look at the greater picture, and that is where the exponential effect comes into play.
Useful information: You should resolve what tasks are appropriate for you as a business leader and what tasks must be reserved for others. If it’s a $10 job, it must be delegated. If it’s a $10,000 task – say, building latest strategic partnerships or diversifying your product line – that is where your attention must be.
4. Implement the 10-80-10 rule
One idea I got here across that I discovered very helpful is the 10-80-10 rule. Here’s how it really works: As a business owner, you simply have to do 10% of the project, which is to define the direction, vision and goals. Then hand over the remaining 80% of the work to your team – the implementation stage. Finally, the last 10% is up to you to edit and add comments. Following this principle implies that you are part of the decision-making process and control the creative vision, but you do not micromanage the process. This implies that your team does most of the work and you make the most vital decisions.
Useful information: Use the 10-80-10 rule for the next project you’re employed on. It is smart to set goals and let the team review the details of how they might be achieved and then critique them.
5. Systems create freedom, not constraints
Many business owners avoid processes and systems because they imagine it stifles creativity. But the reality is that having systems leads to freedom. When your business doesn’t require you to control every aspect of it, you have the opportunity to innovate, spend time with your team, and strategize for the next big step forward.
Useful information: Create structures with the goals of freedom in mind. Automate repeatability. Document what’s most vital. Delegate the rest. This way, you’ll gain hours or even days to work on what is vital, i.e. the future of your business.
You can all the time make more cash, but you’ll be able to’t get back the time that is passed. The key, then, is having the right people, good processes and focusing on the work that basically counts. Steal your hours of wasted work and invest them in building your dreams. You have time – use it properly.