business growth

5 Areas You Are Wasting Time In Your Business

I am all about balancing business and family.  In order for me to do that, I have to be extremely efficient in my time.  I’ve got to be able to get in, crank out productivity and then completely unplug to be present with my family.  I did not start out this efficient in business.  But over the years I have learned to watch out for my time wasters.  Time wasters are tricky in business, because unlike time wasters in your personal life, they appear like you are working.  But anywhere you are spending lots of time with low return is a time waster.

Be on the lookout for these common time vacuums.  They will suck your energy and leave you with a cash void.

1. Thinking about working. You don’t get paid to think about working!  I am not talking about actual planning or problem solving.  I am talking about the constant planning, dreaming and stressing you do over your business.  It sucks your energy, paralyzes you in fear, gives you a false sense of fulfillment because you are living in a dream world and yet nothing happens.  If you aren’t going to do it, don’t spend time thinking about it.  I open up space in every day to think, clear my mind, plan and dream.  But once that time is done, I take action.

2. Free or low cost networking meetings. You can almost feel the desperation in the air.  Business cards are flying and elevator pitches are happening right and left.  It’s a room full of big dreamers, but very little business actually comes from this event.  Get honest with yourself.  How much business have you gotten from the meeting you attend every month?  Or is it just a chance to hang out with friends?  Networking is very worthwhile in your business.  But are you networking with the right people and following up after the event?  If you love networking meetings, but are not getting a good return, consider joining a more expensive group.  Get yourself in a room with highly invested people and the game changes.

3. Social Media. Your social media for your business can be managed in about 5 hours a month. Take time to write out a strong strategy, create your content and schedule your posts.  Then take 5-10 minutes a day to give quick responses and interactions to the people who are connecting with you.

4. Travel time. Every business has some travel time. But are you using the amazing tools we have available to maximize your in office time?  Skype, Google Hangouts and webinar programs can all allow you to connect with clients around the world without having to drive/fly to meet every one of them.  Face to face business will never go out of style, but when supplemented with online meetings, you can accomplish a lot in between those necessary face to face meetings.

5. Doing things you don’t know how to do. Sometimes you need to hire out.  I am not a web designer.   Web designers spend years learning everything there is to know about web design.  Just like I have spent years learning to be a better speaker and business coach.  For me to take myself out of my income producing activities for a month in order to figure out how to build a website that is inevitably going to look homemade makes zero sense.  Know when to hire out projects!  It’s essential.

How much time each week are you spending in these areas?  Try taking that time and putting it into areas that will actually produce income and then share your results with us on Social Media!  We’ll check it during our 5-10 minutes a day for engagement! To get more info: http://amywalkerconsulting.com/