Opinions that are expressed by entrepreneurs are their own.
I travel a lot for my job, and although there are many disadvantages to be on the go, there is a significant advantage: it gives me time to think.
When you travel – especially when you are alone, as I am often – you have a lot of time to think. In the Uber. In safety. Go through the airport. Waiting for your flight. Be on your flight. To do the other way around. Some people listen to music or podcasts during this downtime, and there are cases in which I do the same. But I think most of the time. What do my thoughts think?
Like you when you are a business owner. I think about things that are going on in my life and in my society. A new product we are working on. A sales campaign that I want to try out. A challenging customer situation. A difficult employee. Whether the Phillies should exchange alec bohm. Why the guy sits next to me wears sandals. Many thoughts go through my small, silly, miserable mind. But that's okay. Thinking is good. And when I come back from a trip, I usually have new ideas, different approaches for a problem – to share brilliant thoughts.
When I travel, I don't call as much as in the office. I don't send so many e -mails or visit so many meetings. I do less, but actually I'm doing more.
Back in my office the next day I will have tasks. I check contracts. I work on a suggestion. I'm on zoom. I'm looking for an employee. I call an contractor. I run to a customer meeting. I do a lot. But do I do the right things? Do I really contribute to the long -term profitability and growth of my business? Do I just act or react? I think you know the answer.
As a business owner, we all spend too much time doing too many irrelevant things instead of what is really important: thinking. Think about the future. Think about how we can enjoy our customers, our products better, our employees happier. We should think about the economy, the regulations and the new laws that can affect our business and how we will deal with them. We should think of our cash flow, our investments and how we can increase the value of our companies. But what about all the daily minutia we have to deal with? I have to do less of them. So I do more.
Here are some actions that I will take this year so that I can do more by doing less.
Relatives: 10 growth strategies that every business owner should know
Outsource experts
I should not carry out my own salary statement, create quotes, research problems or send mass -e -e -mails. This year I will outsource these tasks. I will pay accountants, sellers and outdoor marketers to do this for me. This will save me hours. And yes, it will cost, but the cost-benefit ratio will be much higher.
Force me to get out more
I will leave my desk, play pumpkin or ride my bike in the middle of the day, visit more customers and eat with people for lunch that I should have eaten for noon years ago. The more I am on the road, the more I leave my business to be guided by my talented people, and the more time I think about the business and how I can scale it.
Enter a CEO group
There are many great organizations across the country that put together local groups of CEOs and business owners who come together regularly to discuss their companies. They discuss their problems, share their financial information, offer instructions and requests for help. If I took the time to be with them and listen to what they have to say, I would benefit and grow. I can even have a few thoughts to help them.
Follow the rule of 80/20
It is astonishing for me how much time I spend on customers who make so little profit. How many I just want to like to people. It is clear to me that every customer is important and I want a customer to be just as satisfied with 100 US dollars as a customer who pays me 10,000 US dollars. But come on, does that really make sense? This year I will spend less time to torture myself about small, slightly profitable accounts and to concentrate on customers who are really the most valuable for my company. I will not ignore the smaller customers. But I will have a limit of how much time I will spend for you. I will do the same with our products and services. Do we have to have so many? Can we do more with fewer offers?
Relatives: 5 innovative opportunities to create growth opportunities for your employees
After all, I will bend more into technology this year
I will take a look at every task that I carried out during the day – respond to e -mails, follow possibilities, send mass messages, take part in meetings, review invoices and write suggestions – and ask myself how this can be done faster with the technology. My company uses a great CRM software application (Customer Relationship Management), which is equipped with many workflow and automation functions that start using AI that can do all more things in shorter time. I will often speak to this provider and ask how I can make your software faster and better.
2025 is when I will do less. Less work. Less microragement. Less detailed tasks. My smartest customers do this: they take the time to think. You can achieve more by doing less.