In business there’s a belief that the road to success means doing more, more often.
You work your butt off to create consistent income and if that falls flat you go harder with double the effort.
But while you think longer hours and harder work means better outcomes, here’s what doubling your effort really looks like:
- Working 15-hour days, seven days a week.
- Eating meals at your computer because there’s no time to be away.
- Blanket-bombing your email list with no strategy to drive sales.
- Attending every industry networking event but being too busy to follow up.
- Buying program after program and not completing any.
- Being part of three different accountabilities groups but still blowing off deadlines.
- Running over on sales calls but never asking for the sale.
Sound familiar?
The truth is, doubling your effort doesn’t create consistent income; streamlining your systems does.
And while we’re being honest here – If your wheels are constantly spinning due to all the tasks you’ve taken on, then as well as not making money, you’re likely losing it too.
How? By focusing on everything, you end up focusing on nothing.
And meantime your business costs continue, yet you either don’t notice or you don’t feel you have the power to manage them proficiently.
But your business doesn’t need to be a high-speed treadmill. And it is possible to stop racing around and start building systems instead that will lead to consistent profitability.
Here’s how:
Planning with purpose
Create a plan for what you are going to focus on for the next 90 days.
Look at what has worked in your business and do more of that.
Carve out some space to review how you’re spending much of your time and making most of your money.
Often we can’t see the wood we’re wandering in for all the trees; nor the pathway that’s going to lead us out.
Build a Seamless Systems Playbook
Start a list of all the different things you do in your business and how you do them. This is the beginning of your playbook, and it will be an essential resource for running your business when other team members start to come onboard.
Don’t just jot down day-to-day tasks. Add in how you most effectively handle problems or client issues.
Your playbook needs to map out how you will engage with all aspects of your business, from the most routine tasks to the most difficult or random.
Get the support you need. Now.
If your strategy to boost revenue is to double your effort, you’ll eventually find yourself running on empty.
Opportunities will be missed because you don’t have the chance to follow up with clients or process payments. Prospects will be lost due to all the “other work” you have to do. And as for a personal life – well, you might have penciled that in to happen once your business is making consistent money, but don’t hold your breath!
You need to start building your team. This is absolutely critical to moving your business – and your life – onto the next level.
Sure, it’s your business, but you don’t have to go it alone, and hiring help doesn’t have to be costly or time-consuming either. You can start your team small by outsourcing and grow into it.
Even having one team member to delegate a few monthly tasks to, can ease your workload greatly.
Sitting out your life in front of your laptop is not going to build revenue. But having the right systems in place to focus your team and free up your time will.