Small Business Talk
The Podcast to Grow your Business Faster
Being Busy Might Be Ruining Your Business!
Show Notes
Wow, that’s crazy you might say or that’s a bold statement! Well, let’s take a look at it.
No, this is not a clickbait heading I am deadly serious, being busy might be ruining your business.
Busy for Busy Sake
When you look back at your day, you were busy. Yes, most of us are every day but what did you really achieve. Did you spend your day fighting fires, putting out those little emergencies that keep coming up in the way of a phone call, email or someone popping in?
What Did You Do Today?
Did your actions really move the needle for your business or were you too busy to do the tasks that actually matter?
Classic Time Wasters or Busywork
There are some really classic time wasters and busy work traps many of us fall into.
1. Social Media
Social Media is top of the list. Yes, social media is important way of educating and marketing your business. However, most business owners don’t have a plan on what and when they are going to post. SBT Episode #072, I talked about what you should be posting and Episode #070, I discussed when to post.
Randomly posting on social media won’t move your business forward, it will create a time waster. “But you want to be spontaneous” you say. Yes, there is a time and a place for that too but not all the time.
The best option is to have a plan where you are able to post, schedule posts, have your content done ahead of time so that it is on brand and consistent. Then when you have 5-10 minutes “waiting time”, you can add a spontaneous post of what’s on your mind without wasting hours of mindless scrolling because you “HAVE” to make that 4pm Wednesday post.
If mindless scrolling is your way of relaxing, then there is nothing wrong with that if you do it on your own time “relaxing time” not when you are working on or in your business.
While we are on the subject of social media, is that even the best use of your time, is it your zone of genius and should you be doing it at all – you personally.
For more business owners, probably not. You can delegate to another team member outsource to a VA, contractor or employment agency. Then you can just add your spontaneous posts here and there if it fits within your marketing strategy.
But I can’t afford that you might say, OK, let’s look at the Maths.
Your charge out rate versus the time spend “Playing” on social media.
Say your rate is $50 an hour and you spend 1 hour a day 5 days a week.
50 x 5 = $250 X 4 weeks of the month $1000 a month
Wow, does that surprise you?
You can get an agency to do the social media posting with strategic goals for small business in a lot of cases for much less than that.
When outsourcing or delegating, have a plan of what you want to achieve and be very clear on the outcome you want, then monitor and adapt as you go along. Communication is the key. Now, go and spend that 5 hours a week you have just saved on your zone of genius and move your business forward in the right direction.
2. Meetings for Meeting Sake
With lots of things going online and meeting now mainly on Zoom, it’s really easy to fall into the trap of attending lots of them. Networking is so easy now that in many cases, you can attend a networking meeting each day of the week either in person or in Zoom if you like.
STOP – Be careful
Why are you going in the first place?
What are you trying to achieve?
Are they your people/your tribe?
Michael Griffith who was my guests on Small Business Talk Episode #075 says you should surround yourself with people you can
- Partner with
- Buy from You
- Or Promote You
Are the people you are networking with going to do any of these things? Yes, it is important to build trust and be seen as a thought leader. If you are not surrounding yourself with the right people, then maybe it is time to be doing other activities to show your tribe your unique expertise and how you can help, educate and sell to them.
As we grow as business owners, our networks will change from time to time, you need to reassess your networking groups and see if they still serve you or not.
Then there are general meetings. Look at those too and ask yourself do you really need to be there. Often, the answer is no, ask for the minutes or a summary to be kept in the loop. Delegate, train, trust your team and then let them do it their way.
Meeting after meeting can keep you really busy however often it will prevent you from doing what you should be doing.
Are You Working on Your Business?
Sometimes, we get so busy that we don’t have time to work on our businesses. Have you set clear goals of what you want your business to achieve?
Are you working on these goals every quarter, month, week, day?
Having micro goals based on your weekly goals that are based on your monthly goals and your quarterly goals are how these are achieve and how you will move your business forward year after year.
The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan is a great book. They talk about having One Thing that you need to do each day to reach your goal. If you are writing a book, it might be writing 500-1000 words each day.
If you are creating a course – doing the outline of each module, writing the content for a module, booking the photographer for the photo shoot, etct.
Not having a plan/goal for your business might mean you are very busy running in the wrong direction.
Running a business is busy but you need to take time to smell the roses and reassess every now and again to make sure you are going where you need to go.
There are many businesses throughout history that are no longer here because they were too busy running in the wrong direction. Go easy on yourself and if this is not your strength, you might think about getting a coach to help you.
But don’t let that be another trap just to be busy for the sake of being busy.
Being Busy Might Be Ruining Your Business!
Listen to Small Business Talk Episode 078 for the full episode.
Have a wonderful week, see you next week on Small Business Talk or if you need help with marketing, look me up at CATCO Enterprises.
