Some entrepreneurs think that their people and materials are their greatest resources, but in reality, their best asset is their own time. Plan, strategize and work – all in the proper time frame – and the business will succeed.
Here’s a smart business concept. It’s called “The Zone”, and every entrepreneur should be in it, understand it and use it. The Zone is time spent on what is urgent, but still important. It’s the planning and thinking time and frankly, this should occupy about half of the business owner’s work week. If owners are not in the Zone, they are no different to the person working a nine to five job, to make someone else a profit.
Get that business to grow and not stagnate. Identify its’ growth factors. What is the chief aim of the business? Is it a service, or the production and sale of a product? What aspects of the operation are vital to its’ success?
Also, identify what is urgent and not important. These details and areas can bog business owners so far down, that they become discouraged and unproductive. Jump on changing these things as soon as possible.
Look too, at what is not urgent and definitely not important, because these things are major impediments to a business owner’s productivity. Plan, strategize and follow through on a day-by-day, week-by-week, quarter-by-quarter basis. This helps entrepreneurs to sift through what needs attention and what does not.
It is very important to work in the Zone. Actually, take a pen and paper and write down those three things – urgent and important, urgent and not important, and not urgent and not important. See what parts of the work day fall into each subset. Get other people in the business to take over as many of those lower-end jobs as possible. This eliminates distracting details that get the really important goals out of focus.
Another pen and paper task is to develop ways to manage time effectively. What are the most important goals for each and every day? Write them down, because without them, the business and the business owner simply flounder.
So, make those goals. Take some time at the end of each day to plan what must be done the next day. Prioritize those daily goals and work through them every day. Check them off the handwritten list. Those goals will grow and prosper any business, and encourage the entrepreneur as well.
