Business Owners: Get Out Of Your Own Way

You’ve probably heard so much advice about all the things you “should” be doing online to grow your business that you’re thinking “I just don’t have time for all of this!!” And that may be true. You, as the business owner, may not have time.

So maybe it’s time to get out of your own way and focus on what really matters.

Ask yourself – where do YOU make the biggest difference in your business? I can tell you right away that it’s NOT pruning trees, mowing lawns or planting shrubs! You OWN the business. YOU make the decisions, set the strategy, determine which goals to meet, and how to run things. THAT’S where you make a difference.

So think through all the things you do as a business owner and write down the areas in which YOU make a significant difference – things that no one else can do (or should do).

Next, write down what you love doing. If you’re like me, you got into this business because you love doing the work. When I had my landscape company I loved pruning large shrubs and small trees, and designing natural looking landscapes.

And I was really good at it.

But so were other people – people that I could hire to do the work while I focused on bringing in more business.

What I didn’t like was all of the back office stuff – invoicing and getting payments, tracking down missing equipment and orders, setting up appointments. There are probably things that you don’t like doing too. Write those down – what do you hate doing?

Now take a look at your three lists – where you add value, what you love, and what you hate.

Now I know it’s not that simple – some things simply HAVE to be done to run the business.

So in those cases get out of your own way – delegate it, outsource it or automate it.

The small investment in training someone else to do it or buying automation software will pay itself off many times over by freeing you up to do the work that really makes a difference to the growth of your business.

If you’re wondering why I’m talking about this, here’s why – some parts of building market domination depend on YOU, other parts can be done by someone else.

You’re the only person who can build the foundation – define why you’re in business, who you serve and why, and what they want. You’re also the only person who can decide on the overall strategy for your website and email marketing, and the only person who can drive the reputation of your business. You decide WHAT gets done and WHY.

But the actual doing … someone else can DO that for you.

I’m curious to know – What’s on your three lists? And what have you stopped doing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.