I tell you exactly why I am where I am today (and it might just explain why you are where you are in your business).
OK – a moment of honesty here… Why am I soooo unsuccessful…?
Why is it that some of us solo-preneurs are highly successful, some barely make it, and some of us straight out suck at it?
I tell you exactly why. Because we don’t treat our “practice” as a business. Some of us feel like “Now I’m self-employed, I have all the time in the world to do the things I love to do.”
Why am I so unsuccessful?
Simple. I’ve spent 60 to 70% of my time the past 4 years on non-productive tasks. More precisely, I’ve spent the first two years or so
- watching at least one movie in the middle of the day (at least, got that? That sucks!),
- taking a nap (which is not bad in itself, but combined with a movie, well… it adds up)
- reading about a dozen ezines
- reading dozens of non-essential emails (including some stupid chain-emails, which by the way I never forward) and replying to some in greeeeeaaaaat detail, sometimes spending about an hour or more on one reply (ok, some of those people turned into clients, though)
- designing several websites; putting way too much time into finding the right pictures, etc.
- visiting hundreds of websites to get ideas to build mine (then getting “lost” in their newsletters, etc.)
- playing computer games – Dang!!! This is bad!!! It starts out with “Let me play a game before I start my day,” then it turns out into 3 to 6 hours in front of the computer playing the dang’ game. Then, even worse, it turns into a daily routine, sometimes stretching out to a week or more… It’s a stupid addiction, and when you are on your own there’s no one to stop you. Oh ma’ God – if I could go back and trade my time spent on playing games (and watching movies) into productive time I’d probably be making a six-figure income L
- doing TOO MUCH pro-bono work, often not even trying to ask for compensation
- (overcomplicating things and striving for perfection…. Sounds familiar? Not taking real action till something is completed perfectly… )
That’s about the chunk of it. Yes, I’m getting better and better, but I still trip regularly. But as Alcoholics Anonymous and drug addicts will tell you, the first step to healing is admitting that you have a problem. So, yes, I have a problem. I procrastinate too much and spend too much on non-productive tasks.
80% OF OUR RESULTS COME FROM 20% OF OUR ACTIONS! Except there’ll be NO RESULTS if we don’t spend time on the “20%.”
*** IDENTIFY THE TASKS THAT ARE LIKELY TO BRING IN $$$s or new clients and try to focus most of the day on those tasks.
*** Develop a system that you abide by. Plan a schedule that you can follow day after day, week after week – one that contains activities leading to $$$s, more clients, visibility, growth, etc. You know what you need, you just need to do it, and the key is to schedule it/them.
*** Plan sessions of 30-minute-bursts. COMMIT for 30 minutes to FOCUS 100% ON A TASK. In that 30-minutes don’t check emails, if possible don’t answer the phone (look at the caller ID and answer only if it is a client) – let the answering machine serve its purpose. Then take a short break, then commit for another 30-minute burst.
*** HAVE A PLAN!!! I’m not talking about something super elaborate, though a business and marketing plan definitely help. What I’m talking about is KNOW WHAT YOU ARE WORKING ON! Write down on a sheet what your focus is and work on those areas days after day till you reach each of the items on your list. KEEP THE LIST SHORT: 3 to 5 items, so you can comfortably work on them and accomplish them. This will help you AVOID LOOSING FOCUS, which often happens to us solo-preneurs, and we end up task hopping and not accomplishing anything.
*** “Delegate!” You might say “How the heck could I delegate when I’m a solo-preneur?” What I mean is, don’t try to do everything on your own. Designing a website on your own might save you some $$$s, but ask yourself if you could invest that time more productively bringing in more $$$s than what you’d spend to hire a web-designer.
IDENTIFY TASKS THAT YOU CAN OUTSOURCE! …and try to spend most of your time on tasks that will result in profits and new clients.
*** FOLLOW UP & KEEP EXISTING CLIENTS
One of the shortcomings of any business person can be the lack of follow-up, regardless whether we are talking about a prospect or an existing client. Of course, the best way to stay in business is to keep existing customers and only when we have a system in place that ensures this, worry about gaining new customers. It’s always easier to sell to existing customers than to get new ones (yes, this sometimes depends on your business).
Bottom Line! Keep in touch with both existing customers and with prospects, this way you’ll keep growing your client base and not lose them to your competition who might provide better customer service
*** ASK FOR REFERRALS.
Do you have happy satisfied customers? Ask if they know anyone who might benefit from your product or service. In worst case the client might say that they have no one they can think of or that they’ll think about it; but think about the better case scenario when they give you a whole list of people or they send several people to you… So ask for that referral – after all, what’s the worst thing that can happen, right?
Follow the few suggestions from above and it will be impossible not to become more productive and more profitable.
Did I leave out any crucial steps? Reply to this post and I’ll update my list :)
OK – a moment of honesty here… Why am I soooo unsuccessful…?
Why is it that some of us solo-preneurs are highly successful, some barely make it, and some of us straight out suck at it?
I tell you exactly why. Because we don’t treat our “practice” as a business. Some of us feel like “Now I’m self-employed, I have all the time in the world to do the things I love to do.”
Why am I so unsuccessful?
Simple. I’ve spent 60 to 70% of my time the past 4 years on non-productive tasks. More precisely, I’ve spent the first two years or so
- watching at least one movie in the middle of the day (at least, got that? That sucks!),
- taking a nap (which is not bad in itself, but combined with a movie, well… it adds up)
- reading about a dozen ezines
- reading dozens of non-essential emails (including some stupid chain-emails, which by the way I never forward) and replying to some in greeeeeaaaaat detail, sometimes spending about an hour or more on one reply (ok, some of those people turned into clients, though)
- designing several websites; putting way too much time into finding the right pictures, etc.
- visiting hundreds of websites to get ideas to build mine (then getting “lost” in their newsletters, etc.)
- playing computer games – Dang!!! This is bad!!! It starts out with “Let me play a game before I start my day,” then it turns out into 3 to 6 hours in front of the computer playing the dang’ game. Then, even worse, it turns into a daily routine, sometimes stretching out to a week or more… It’s a stupid addiction, and when you are on your own there’s no one to stop you. Oh ma’ God – if I could go back and trade my time spent on playing games (and watching movies) into productive time I’d probably be making a six-figure income L
- doing TOO MUCH pro-bono work, often not even trying to ask for compensation
- (overcomplicating things and striving for perfection…. Sounds familiar? Not taking real action till something is completed perfectly… )
That’s about the chunk of it. Yes, I’m getting better and better, but I still trip regularly. But as Alcoholics Anonymous and drug addicts will tell you, the first step to healing is admitting that you have a problem. So, yes, I have a problem. I procrastinate too much and spend too much on non-productive tasks.
80% OF OUR RESULTS COME FROM 20% OF OUR ACTIONS! Except there’ll be NO RESULTS if we don’t spend time on the “20%.”
*** IDENTIFY THE TASKS THAT ARE LIKELY TO BRING IN $$$s or new clients and try to focus most of the day on those tasks.
*** Develop a system that you abide by. Plan a schedule that you can follow day after day, week after week – one that contains activities leading to $$$s, more clients, visibility, growth, etc. You know what you need, you just need to do it, and the key is to schedule it/them.
*** Plan sessions of 30-minute-bursts. COMMIT for 30 minutes to FOCUS 100% ON A TASK. In that 30-minutes don’t check emails, if possible don’t answer the phone (look at the caller ID and answer only if it is a client) – let the answering machine serve its purpose. Then take a short break, then commit for another 30-minute burst.
*** HAVE A PLAN!!! I’m not talking about something super elaborate, though a business and marketing plan definitely help. What I’m talking about is KNOW WHAT YOU ARE WORKING ON! Write down on a sheet what your focus is and work on those areas days after day till you reach each of the items on your list. KEEP THE LIST SHORT: 3 to 5 items, so you can comfortably work on them and accomplish them. This will help you AVOID LOOSING FOCUS, which often happens to us solo-preneurs, and we end up task hopping and not accomplishing anything.
*** “Delegate!” You might say “How the heck could I delegate when I’m a solo-preneur?” What I mean is, don’t try to do everything on your own. Designing a website on your own might save you some $$$s, but ask yourself if you could invest that time more productively bringing in more $$$s than what you’d spend to hire a web-designer.
IDENTIFY TASKS THAT YOU CAN OUTSOURCE! …and try to spend most of your time on tasks that will result in profits and new clients.
*** FOLLOW UP & KEEP EXISTING CLIENTS
One of the shortcomings of any business person can be the lack of follow-up, regardless whether we are talking about a prospect or an existing client. Of course, the best way to stay in business is to keep existing customers and only when we have a system in place that ensures this, worry about gaining new customers. It’s always easier to sell to existing customers than to get new ones (yes, this sometimes depends on your business).
Bottom Line! Keep in touch with both existing customers and with prospects, this way you’ll keep growing your client base and not lose them to your competition who might provide better customer service
*** ASK FOR REFERRALS.
Do you have happy satisfied customers? Ask if they know anyone who might benefit from your product or service. In worst case the client might say that they have no one they can think of or that they’ll think about it; but think about the better case scenario when they give you a whole list of people or they send several people to you… So ask for that referral – after all, what’s the worst thing that can happen, right?
Follow the few suggestions from above and it will be impossible not to become more productive and more profitable.
Did I leave out any crucial steps? Reply to this post and I’ll update my list :)
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