Did you work for yourself so you could work all the time? Most people would say no. But when you realize you’ve traded your 9-to-5 schedule for 24/7, it’s not fun. Nights and weekends are fair game. All members of your team trust you. Clients need you on each and every call. You’re not sure if this is what you signed up for and you don’t know how to prevent this from happening.
Does your business require more paints than necessary? Apply those five quick wins to make it all work without you. A total passive source of income may not be your goal, but with a few wise decisions you can get closer. You can prevent non-essential things from filling your schedule and lose more space for magic.
You know what’s going on is not sustainable, but what’s the dream you want to live? Define it. Write a list of what your dream week in business looks like. What meetings do you have, what work do you do? How do you spend each morning and afternoon? You have to know what the goal looks like before you can make it happen.
When your long-term list is defined, delve deeper into the void. Who do you want to hire, what software do you want to buy, and what barriers do you want to overcome? Find quick wins and take action today. You may be just a few decisions away from an entirely different company and person.
You probably get more emails than necessary. Most of us do. Rather than google the answer or apply trial and error, someone is emailing you to ask and taking up your time. Or they’re trying to sell you something. Your business will not run without you if your inbox is a bottleneck. So stop that happening.
Create an all-encompassing autoresponder that frees people up to take the next step. Explain that you’re checking email less frequently and probably won’t get back to them soon. Include links, information and reference other people who can get them answers faster than you. Ensure they have sent you all the information you need, for when you do get round to responding. Once they know emailing you isn’t a quick win, they’ll be more self-sufficient. Then you can batch responses and reply in one go.
When my business could no longer function without me, I made a radical decision. I booked a five week trip to Australia 3 months later. I gave myself a deadline to systematize my business as much as possible. Nothing inspires more action than an upcoming flight that you know you can’t possibly miss.
Suddenly you wonder what you deserve to do and what someone else could take care of. You’ll expand SOPs, exercise new vendors, and miss things you deserve to have overlooked a long time ago. The moment you get on this flight, you will have an absolutely different activity. Book it now and see what happens.
Someone in your company needs more responsibility. Not only that, but they are good. Conscientious, diligent and detail-oriented. They care about their consumers and their reputation. Identify this person. Give them more paints and watch them go to the next level. Delegate them, empower them and advertise them accordingly.
When you have trusted team members, ask yourself how you could serve without them. When you don’t have reliable team members, you’re probably of no use at all. Book a meeting with your most productive worker and extend it until they thrive without any input from you. The faster you exercise and become confident, the faster you will lose time.
Your business doesn’t work without you because deep down you don’t need it. You like to feel important. You like the thrill of answering a question. You pride yourself on being able to solve a challenge that baffles everyone. Get over that.
Being too available is costing the resourcefulness of your team members. When you’re always around, they don’t think for themselves. They don’t need to. You’re creating a dependency on you that only gets stronger over time. Take time out. Work from home. Start this afternoon. Turn off Slack. Be offline for scheduled time periods and let your best people show you what they can do.
Don’t create an asset that is a liability. Build an empire that does not charge your soul. Write your long run list to outline your edition of success, then paintings to close the hole as soon as possible. Create an email autoresponder, ebook a dream trip, and empower a team member to take responsibilities off your hands. Be less to be had and see what they can achieve. If your business relies on you, you are stuck in your role. When you can function with whole freedom, you can accomplish so much more.
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