You,Get,Out,What,Put,During,re business, insurance You Get Out What You Put In

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During a recent coaching session with Mark, I was brieflyreminded of how it feels to give your all to your business andhave it spit in your face.“I just don’t get it! I’m putting all my time and energy into thisbusiness, and I’m still scraping by. I’m so tired of fighting to‘just to make it’ but this is what I really want to do.”“Tell me about what’s happening in your life,” I inquired.“My wife says I’m spending too much time working, and Iknow she’s right. But I also know that I’m the one who isresponsible for paying most of the bills. As it is, I’m probablyworking 80 hours a week.”“I really want to spend more time with her and our son, butif we’re barely making it now, I can’t imagine what wouldhappen if I slowed down. I’d lose the business for sure. WhatI need is more time, not less.”Oh, it was terrible to hear Mark experiencing such pain. Itbrought back all of the feelings I had also experienced duringthe first years of my business several years earlier.He had fallen into the same trap that many of us do. Hebelieved that his degree of business success was directlyrelated to the number of hours he put in. And, I knew, thatuntil we altered that belief, he would never be free to achievegreat financial success and to enjoy the freedom that thelife of a business owner can provide.Somewhere along the way, many of us pick up the perceivedconnection between time and results. Yes, it’s true that ifyou spend 10 hours a day practicing piano that you willlikely be a better performer than if you spend 5 minutes a day.And that same logic might apply to specific skills you use inyour business. If you spend 4 hours every day doing anything(creating graphic designs, writing press releases, writing salesletters), you will undoubtedly develop your skills.But, in an endeavor like business, success is based on muchmore than the total amount of time you put in. It’s based onwhat you do during that time, what skills you have, whatcustomers want, how you present yourself, what you charge,how you market your business, etc.Some things in life are easy …Staying Thin = Eating Well + ExercisingBaking Cookies = Measuring Ingredients + Following DirectionsThe stinker part about running a business is that you get outwhat you put in. And, it’s not easy to figure out what themonster wants to eat – but that’s your job as a business owner.If you spend countless hours networking at events that don’tyield results, you are adding time to your week. If you re-createthe wheel every time you have to put a proposal together,you are taking up time that you could be spending on othermarketing activities, taking a lunch break, spending theafternoon with your spouse and kids. If you are startingnumerous projects without bringing any of them to completion,you are wasting time spinning your wheels rather thanprofiting from one of those great ideas.You see, it’s important that you know where your time isgoing, what results you are getting from how you spend it,and what price you are paying (both professionally andpersonally) for spending so much time in your business.Please don’t take years to learn this one. It’s a truth. If youfigure out what your monster wants to eat, and you feed itto him on a regular basis, he will give you the key to thekingdom!Are you ready to find out what you’ve been feeding yourmonster (i.e. “what you’re putting into your business)?Don’t hate me when I ask you to track your time. ‘Howboring’ you might say. Doesn’t she understand that takingthe time to track my time just takes more time (you canread that line again if you need to!)Yes, it can be boring and it does take a little bit of time.However, if you invest tiny little bits of time throughout theday (adding up to only 10 minutes/day probably), you candiscover the keys to propelling your business forward.Start today by tracking how you spend your time (track every15 minute segment) for the next 5-7 days. Include all the timeyou spend working, including evenings and weekends.After the week is over, look back over the completedworksheets and tell me what you see. Look for thingslike:* breakdown the number of hours you are spending on: - marketing - providing your services - office work (invoicing, paying bills) - email - other functions* add up the number of hours it takes you to do certainstandard functions that are part of your business - attending a meeting (driving to/from + meeting) - writing a proposal - adding a new client to your practice - doing your accounting workToo much time spent on office work could tell you thatyou need to outsource some of your administrative work.Too much time spent on email might tell you that youneed to stop reading so many ezines (except mine!),only read/answer personal email during off hours, orlearn how to use the sorting function of your email programso the most important emails are highlighted.Too much time spent on marketing efforts that are notyielding new customers could tell you that it’s time toquit that networking club or stop using direct mail, soyou’ll have more time to invest in the types of marketingthat are working well for your business (where have yourcurrent customers come from? Do more of that!)Too much time spent attending prospect meetings mighttell you that you need to reduce the geographic area youare targeting in order to decrease the time it takes to goto/from prospect and client meetings.Too much time spent writing a proposal might tell youthat you need to automate your process more so thatyou only have to input a few items of data to createeach new proposal, contract, or spreadsheet.There is so much to learn by tracking your time. Yes, itmight be boring, but it’s an investment of 10 minutesa day for a week that might just buy you the freedomand financial success you’ve been seeking.Happy Time Tracking!