{The following is a summarised transcription of the video}
In my experience working with businesses, I realize that there is one asset that many business owners fail to take into account and manage properly is their own time.
Unfortunately, time is a business owner’s most important asset—and it is also an asset that cannot be renewed or earned back. Managing time appropriately is what will allow you to grow and move your business towards the direction you intend for it.
Many times, I have found that business owners and even key stakeholders mismanage and misuse their time. They sometimes focus on matters and activities that may provide short-term gains but do not have any long-term impact.
“Business Owners and Stakeholders can mismanage their time by focusing on activities that provide short-term gains but no long-term impact.”
So how do you ensure that spend time on the things that matter the most, knowing that time is your most important asset?
- Know what you want.
Knowing what you want is half the battle. So ask yourself, what do you want out of your business? What does your business mean to you? What do you want your business to achieve? Where do you want your business to be?
- Identify what needs to be done to achieve what you want.
Once you identify what you want, you can now identify the steps you need to do to bring your business from where it is today to where you want it to be.
For example, your business may be turning over $1 million today. You’ve identified that you want it to turn over $5 million moving forward. The second step is to chart a course for you to achieve your $5 million goal.
- Identify your strengths and your weaknesses.
Once you’ve identified your course and the steps you need to take towards your goal, it is now important to understand the areas that you do well in and the areas that you do not do so well in.
Once you clearly understand your strengths and weaknesses, you now need to understand that to manage your time properly, you need to focus on and leverage on your strengths. What to do with your weaknesses? You delegate them.
Successful entrepreneurs have this in common: they focus on their strengths and don’t waste their time improving on their weaknesses. Instead, they find other people who have the skills to complement their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses.
Why do they do this? Successful entrepreneurs understand that in business, money can be earned over time. However, you can’t earn your time back, not even with money.
“In business, money can be earned back, but not time.”
Instead of focusing on improving on your weaknesses, you gain more leverage by hiring people who have the skills you lack and do the work that you can’t. In the process, you save yourself time and capture gains in a shorter amount of time.
- Keep yourself focused.
Once you’ve taken the first four steps, you now need to keep yourself focused on your goals and what you are accountable for. Be vigilant and selfish with your time and focus. When issues come up, decide whether this is an issue that you need to address or if it is something that you can delegate.
Consistent focus is key to optimising your time, which is one of the greatest assets in your business.
In my book ”$20K to $20 Million in 2 Years”, I talk about the differences between a good and a great business and puts out questions that make you consider how you can turn your business from good to great. You can download the first chapter of the book for FREE here.
