Are You Running or Growing?

A big obstacle we often face to growing our business is actually running it.” —Matt Palmer, Co-Founder & President, The Joseph Group Capital Management

How many of you would identify with this comment, said to me by a friend several years back? This becomes a tremendous challenge when you are running a “solo” business, and virtually all you have is yourself (although this is not the case of the individual quoted above). Even in these circumstances, you need to be honest with yourself about the activities you’re engaged in on a daily basis. It comes down to these questions:

• Is this something that only I am capable of doing?
• How important is this task to the growth and sustainability of my business?

Successful business owners and leaders know that the most important use of their time involves activity that was client-, prospecting-, and growth-related. They realize that if you aren’t growing, then you are slowly dying. There is no in between. They understood this importance early on when they first opened their doors. As a result, they equip themselves with the human resources to support their efforts, so that they could focus on that work which they—and only they—could do. This is perhaps one of the most crucial elements to business longevity and growth.

Specifically, as a point person, there are certain tasks which only you can do. It mostly involves building and cultivating relationships with prospects and clients. Remember, people will buy only from whom they know, like and trust. All three factors must be present, and they must all point to YOU.

Supporting activities, which include certain tasks in servicing clients and their accounts, are often better left to your support people (who in turn also nurture that know, like and trust factor). In fact, as one mentor recently observed, many clients of certain caliber will look with FAVOR on their observation that you are delegating certain tasks to support personnel. They see that as a recognition of what YOUR time is really worth—and in turn they will value it all the more.

So this begs the question: what if you don’t have support people? What if you are a lone gunman? Look at your gross production, and divide out how many hours you work for the same time period. Want to see that hourly number rise? List out those tasks which you find yourself doing, yet you know is not the best use of your time. Seek out an administrative assistant service–they can be in your workplace or work virtually.

Start small, delegate some key tasks, and see what a difference it makes. As your comfort level grows (and stress reduces), simply go from there. Always be mindful to do only those tasks which only you should do.

Stop running and start growing. And watch your hourly earning rate skyrocket.