After a week of enthusiastic, but time-consuming posts, I have decided on a schedule of weekly musings that should be far more maintainable. I expect to post a new entry – and new poll question – each Wednesday by noon. I appreciate the encouragement to invest this time in offering topics of discussion common to those of us who are living on the edge (in a Killearn sort of way, at least).
This has been one of those weeks in which effort has not resulted in corresponding income. That was perhaps the biggest lesson I learned when going into business for myself seven years ago. How much or how hard you work has nothing to do with how much money you will make. Sure, it does in the long run (if all goes well), but you can’t pay yourself with a timecard (if those even still exist).
There are just too many other things to do that have nothing to do with generating income. There are too many projects that take too long to bill. There are too many prospects that remain prospects. And there are too many distractions to knock us off track.
I know, I know. Time management. But it’s more than that. It’s about balancing our daily activities so that we are providing flawless customer service, pursuing new business and attending to the tiny details that keep our doors open.
There are plenty of work-related activities to keep us busy. But it is too easy for an entire day to go by without moving the essentials forward. So what do you do to guard against spending time on good stuff, but not the best stuff? And how do you figure out what the best stuff even is?
Let’s talk about it.
This has been one of those weeks in which effort has not resulted in corresponding income. That was perhaps the biggest lesson I learned when going into business for myself seven years ago. How much or how hard you work has nothing to do with how much money you will make. Sure, it does in the long run (if all goes well), but you can’t pay yourself with a timecard (if those even still exist).There are just too many other things to do that have nothing to do with generating income. There are too many projects that take too long to bill. There are too many prospects that remain prospects. And there are too many distractions to knock us off track.
I know, I know. Time management. But it’s more than that. It’s about balancing our daily activities so that we are providing flawless customer service, pursuing new business and attending to the tiny details that keep our doors open.
There are plenty of work-related activities to keep us busy. But it is too easy for an entire day to go by without moving the essentials forward. So what do you do to guard against spending time on good stuff, but not the best stuff? And how do you figure out what the best stuff even is?
Let’s talk about it.
3 comments:
I agree. Activity does not equal results -- for clients or for your business. Also hard when we are all called upon (and love!) to serve the community. So many organizations need assistance and not just attending board meetings, but roll up your sleeves, 10 hours a week kind of help. Learning to say no is an ongoing challenge. Sigh, we'll do better next week!!!!
I have similar issues in my business Dave. Since I am often assigned "orphan" clients in this region, servicing their accounts is a task which falls to me. At times I resented this burden since it did not represent an income stream for me, but rather a drain of my revenue producing time. Through sheer force of will I made myself be attentive to these clients though, and over time many of these clients became the source of new business and referrals. I guess the moral of my story is that although it is sometimes hard to decide where to focus our efforts, as long as we are doing the right thing for our clients eventually even seemingly fruitless tasks can bear fruit. Hope this helps :)
Tim
April and Tim -- You both bring up great points. Even in business, there is not always a straight line between doing the right thing and immediate financial reward. But using your time to serve people -- either members of the community or clients who just need your help -- is a great way to demonstrate the character of your company. Thanks for the insight.
Dave
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