This question and answer series of articles provides scenarios for business owners to find answers to business frustrations.
Q: I know I need systems and I know that systems will improve my business, but I work 70 hours a week now. How am I ever going to find the time to devise and then implement systems on top of this workload?
Your challenge is that you are the only person who can make things change. It is your business and no-one else can make that change happen. The questions to ask yourself are: What are the ramifications of you not implementing the systems you know you need? And, what will be the benefits of those systems once implemented?
The problem is not that you are doing too much work – you are simply doing the wrong kind of work. Start by listing all of the things you do in a week and how much time you spend on them. Categorise them – client work, office administrative work, administrative support work, bookkeeping etc. Ask yourself what you would pay someone hourly to do each category of work. Chances are a lot of it will be $12 – $20 an hour work. Add up the hours. Consider what you value your time at as the owner of the business. Now work out how much are you costing the business by spending so much time working in the lowest paid sections of the business.
It is only when you can get a picture of what you are costing the business in this sense that you can come to terms with what needs to be done. Start working on the systems in those areas and then get someone in on a part time basis to follow them, freeing up some of your valuable time.
When you have that extra time, don’t just throw yourself into more of the same. Remember why you did it – and use the time wisely to develop some more systems that will free up more of your time, which you can then spend on activities that have significantly more value to the business. A business is going to take a very long time getting to its objective if the owner is its most expensive clerical worker.
Watch for Part Twenty-Two…coming soon!
Until next time…
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