Using Your Business Time Wisely

522
Business Time Wisely

“What is the best use of my time right now?” Those are the words that I had framed and placed on a wall in my office many years ago. They are powerful words. It is an important question – one that business people should be asking themselves numerous Business Time Wisely throughout their day. Am I using my time wisely?

I believe there are two main factors to consider when answering that question. The first involves your focus. Do you – and your employees as government jobs – spend your time focused on what has the greatest long term effect on the bottom line? Business owners need to focus on the revenue stream. An associate of mine owns a business that publishes a specialized newspaper. When you ask him what Business Time Wisely he is in he will say, “I am in the business of selling advertising.” He often says that it does not matter how good his publication is if he can’t sell advertising. He can have the greatest publication in the country but if he does not sell advertising he will be out of business. I am not saying that he does not want to produce a good newspaper – he does. He has an excellent publication. But it is the advertising that keeps him in business. What do you think the best use of his time is?

The second factor is the direct trade-off between performing a function that can EARN money for your business versus a function that can SAVE money for your Business Time Wisely. Let’s start by looking at an extreme situation. If you are a professional baseball player for the New York Yankees, would you be smarter to stay home on Sunday to cut your grass so you do not have to pay the landscaper $100, or are you better off to play in the baseball game and earn the salary that a player makes for one game? The answer is obvious.

Performing the Paying Service

Many business owners are so concerned about not paying for a service that they do the work themselves. By performing the service themselves, they miss the opportunity to earn two, five, or ten times as much money by making a sale. Often, I hear the excuse that they are doing “paperwork at a time when they could not be meeting with a customer anyway.” But the question is still the same, “What is the best use of their time?” Maybe they should be writing or revising their marketing plan. Maybe they could be rehearsing their next sales call and they could be planning product improvements and they could be analyzing the competition. The answer to the question is “Perform the function that will produce sell or buy via online shopping the best long-term results to the bottom line.

Business Time Wisely

Sometimes the Business Time Wisely owner spends time supervising a function rather than doing it herself. She has hired someone else to do it. The same analysis is required. Is she better off out-sourcing that function so she does not need to spend time supervising it or dealing with its problems? Even though the out-sourcing may cost more than hiring someone, the business owner must consider her time supervising that function as well as the other resources that the functions consume from the business i.e. freelancer or web development company.

As much as we want to take pride in what we produce and as much as we dislike paying others, we need to realize what adds to the bottom line. Many people believe that Studebaker made a fine quality automobile. Have you driven a Studebaker lately?

When to Get Help for Your Business

Most people only think about their health when they are sick. Fortunately, some of us are now beginning to learn to think about living a healthy lifestyle so we do not get sick. My message to you is that the wellness theory that applies to our personal health also applies to our business sign symptom.

As a business consultant, I get the vast majority of calls from clients when their business is sick. My phones rings when their sales are down, when their costs are too high, when their employees are not performing, etc. etc. etc. In some cases they call me when it is too late. I have had the misfortune of having to tell clients that it is too late for me or anyone else to help them. It is time for them to close their doors for good.

My advice to you is this. Just as it is important for you to live a healthy lifestyle and to see the doctor for your annual physical BEFORE you are sick, the same is true for your business. The best time to call me (or anyone else for help) is BEFORE your troubles begin. We can look at what needs to be done to keep your sales from going down or your costs from going up and develop programs to keep good employees and to keep them motivated. We can do the things necessary to grow your Business Time Wisely.

The business has increased significantly

My business has increased significantly since the recession started. Why? Because when times were good, everyone was happy. No one was concerned about the health of their business. They were playing golf, fishing, and on vacation. No one felt that they needed any help. My, how times have changed.

Not only are times of prosperity the best time to prevent problems, but it is also the least expensive time to get help. Just as it is less expensive to pay an attorney to review a contract before you sign it rather than pay him or her to try to get you out of a bad contract, it is also cheaper to pay a consultant to review your Business Time Wisely practices when times are good than to pay him or her to try to dig you out of a hole. And of course via online tests, when times are bad, there is always the issue of even having enough money to pay for help.