Managing Yourself for Profitability
Introduction
To improve your profitability, you need to be managing yourself well. Why? Because your time is precious!
There are only so many hours in our working week, with loads to do. But as small business owners, we have the freedom to choose how we spend our time. We can do what we enjoy, while still focusing on what’s important…
So, it’s critical to capitalize on both our passion, and our skills to improve the productivity and profitability of our business.
Your Passion and Skills
Last week we looked at the inevitable doom of distractions and how to lead your employees away from their disturbance.
Today, we stop to ask ourselves as business owners…
“What distracts me?”
and
“When do these distractions disturb my workflow?”
To do this, you need to consider the patterns of your distractions. And in a later post, we provide strategies to equip you to defeat the distractions which can weigh you down. This will go beyond the fundamental principle of prioritizing – which is also crucial!
Focus where it matters
There’s power in bringing your focus back to basics…
“What am I most passionate about?”
and
“What am I most skilled in?”
Michael Hyatt speaks of the Freedom Compass in his book called “Free to Focus”. He shows us how easily we can become distracted or disinterested if we are not operating in the areas that we are both skilled in, and passionate about. We love the use of the four zones:
- Drudgery zone – neither passionate or skilled
- Disinterest zone – skilled, but not passionate
- Distraction zone – passionate, but not skilled
- Desire zone – both skilled and passionate!
The desire zone is where we want to be spending most of our time. Because it is here where we are the most productive, the most in flow, and thereby the most profitable in our business.
So, evaluate where you are spending most of your time.
- Pause to reflect
- Make some changes
- Move forward!
The key is to steer your attention away from tasks that are of low value. Our next blog about Time vs Energy management digs deeper into this topic.
How others can help YOU in managing yourself
Whether it’s…
- Employees
- External collaboration, or
- Outsourcing
…others are a necessary part of enhancing your self-management.
So, the Freedom Compass shows us that managing yourself goes hand-in-hand with freeing up time. By using other people to help free up your time, you can focus on the things in your Desire Zone.
Let’s look at these three strategies to involve others in your business.
Delegate
Entrusting employees with increased responsibility, unlocks their potential. Which means that successful businesses are full of empowered employees! These employees have the chance to learn, make mistakes and get pushed out of their comfort zone.
Delegation also allows you to handpick the next forerunner that will advance your business. No-one excels at everything. So in this process, you may find some employees that are a better fit for other, more profitable parts of your business too.
Collaborate
Broaden your scope and consider which partners you could get on board. Why reinvent the wheel when you could collaborate with another business that compliments yours?
Outsource
Sometimes when our passion feels stifled, it’s because we’re getting snowed under by doing things that we aren’t actually good at. This is when it’s time to outsource!
Depending on your needs, there might be a variety of professionals to choose from. So, you have the freedom to be selective and start slowly.
Check out this article: “Why The Best Leaders Delegate and Outsource As Much as Possible” by Marissa Levin (Founder and CEO, Successful Culture) for more information about outsourcing.
Elimination made easy!
Now, back to those tasks that you’ve recognised that do need to be done by you.
It doesn’t always need to look like a never-ending to-do list. Embrace the process of elimination by only expecting to do five priorities, out of say 25. Bravely, let go of the 20! They may or may not be forever forgotten. But the sooner you can shift your focus to your top priorities, the better.
Optimise
We’ve looked at…
- Evaluation
- Delegation
- Outsourcing
- Elimination
…now you’re ready and energised to optimise!
Take control of technology so that it doesn’t control what you identify as the most productive time of day. And, take action by blocking these times out on your calendar so you don’t end up using them for meetings.
Read what else Miranda Lievers had to say in this article.
More resources for managing yourself effectively
To read more about delegating and outsourcing effectively check out these articles…
- How to Delegate Tasks Effectively (and Why It’s Important)
- Why The Best Leaders Delegate and Outsource As Much as Possible: Are you investing your time in the right activities? The smartest leaders focus on their strengths, and delegate the rest.
- 5 Ways to Use Your Connections to Outsource Tasks
In Conclusion
We trust that you’re now equipped to regularly reflect on ways to manage yourself. It’s important for you, as well as your employees. The long-term effect on the sustainability of your business and for others could be magnificent!
If you’re ready to focus on what you enjoy most, then offload the weight of your business finances with us!
Book your free 30-minute no-obligation consultation below!