How to Focus on Growing Your Agency Instead of Just Running It
It’s common for every entrepreneur to feel bogged down by tasks and buried by a growing to do list. We are always so busy being reactive instead of proactive and there’s never a chance to get ahead.
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It’s like that client that is never happy and constantly calling or emailing… the squeaky wheel gets the oil, right? But that doesn’t add any horsepower to your business. You need to work on the modifications to the engine before you oil the squeaky wheel. Don’t focus on the little things that have no impact on the growth of the business and concentrate more on the high impact items.
It’s Too Hard to See the Forest for the Trees
That’s OK! I’ve created a worksheet that you can use when you are feeling overwhelmed. Start by making a list of everything that needs done. Then determine whether it absolutely must be done by you. Decide if its something that can be solved by technology or if you can delegate it to a team member or outsource it. (For example, before I had a team I outsourced show notes to a virtual assistant.) Consider the cost vs. the time it will take and what else you could be doing in that your time. After you know which tasks must be done by you, then you can rate them: high impact long term, high impact short term and low impact. If you aren’t sure how to rank your tasks, check out my blog post about the Productivity Funnel. High impact items include growth opportunities, revenue and client generating tasks. Low impact items include checking emails, one-off project work, etc.
With few exceptions, you should always work on the high impact long term items first. There are times I’ve put high impact short term tasks as a higher priority. An example might be during a cash flow crunch and a high impact short term task will bring in revenue.
Always Give Priority to High Impact Action Items
If you’re spending time on low impact, low priority tasks you are unable to focus on your biggest and best opportunities for growth.
Decide what gets you closer to your BIG goals then backfill with the lower impact tasks. Get started prioritizing now by downloading my worksheet and start crossing some of that SH*T off your list!