Growing your business means staying focused on what’s most important. Think about what you do and separate it into three categories: the busy, the business, and the service.
- The busy are the tasks you have to do to make sure your business stays organized.
- The service is the job and what you do for your clients to get paid.
- The business are all the things that directly affect your bottom line.
When you focus on the parts of your business that generate revenue you establish a foundation for business growth.
The Busy
The day-to-day busy work is where most people spend their time. And, it’s where they feel like they’re doing something, maybe even feel a little productive, but often have no real results (or more importantly, revenue) to show for it.
And, day after day they repeat this trap of focusing on the busy work and still feel like they can’t gain any traction for their business. Ever hear of the “definition of insanity?”
Some examples of busy work could be getting organized, creating flyers, or fine tuning your website. Those things sound kind of important too, don’t they?
Yes! They are important to your business, but there has to be a clear distinction of what’s happening.
So, how do we tell the difference between busy work that’s just busy and busy work that’s actually resulting in more business.
Well, you have to emotionally separate what you feel would generate more business for you and what is actually generating new business for you. And, let’s be clear, as the wearer of many hats you’ll have to do this busy work at some point, it just shouldn’t be your main focus.
For instance, imagine you’re getting ready to create a video for potential new clients. You agonize over what your lighting looks like, what kind of equipment you’ll need, and what other professionals are doing. None of this nets you a return on investment especially for your most valuable resource, your time.
When you post that video with a strong call-to-action to get people to click and buy (or set an appointment)…now you’re focusing a little closer on the business side of things.
The Service
The service is exactly why you started your business. You’re good at what you do and you know you should get paid for it.
Doing the service is a must, after all people aren’t going to pay you if you don’t. The service is your job.
But, when you start a business, you have to also realize you’ve just transitioned into business owner. That’s a way more important hat to wear.
In fact, if you want to dive deeper on this subject, it is whole-heartedly recommended that you read the book The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber.
Understanding the real responsibilities you signed up for when you started your business is a crucial step for any business owner.
After all, for most, when they start their business, they see themselves as paying someone else to do the exact service they started a business around. And, it’s also why some business owners start a business around a service they can’t even perform themselves. Interesting, right?
The Business
The business revolves around any actions you take that directly result in money going into your pocket (or your business’ pocket).
After talking to many business owners, it became crystal clear that they have a hard time talking about the money. They’ll do the job, but when it comes time for asking for the money… well, they don’t.
Maybe that’s even happened to you? Horror stories are plentiful about the business owners who said, “I’ll invoice you later!” and then put it off for weeks or even months. Finally, when they’re getting desperate for cashflow, they decide to invoice that client who forgot all about them and is slow to pay!
When you do your job, your service, people are ready to pay you. Or sometimes, they’ll pay you before you even do it. All depends on your business model.
The fact remains that if you don’t ask for the money, you don’t get the money.
And, these actions are exactly what Lnvo quickly helps you do:
- Easily Generate & Send Invoices
- Collect Payments Online
- View All Coming Due Invoices
- See Overdue Items At-a-Glance
When you think about growing your business, you may need new hires. That means you’ll need cashflow. You can’t exactly pay someone in busy work, right?
That’s why focusing on the business is imperative to your success.
Use Lnvo as that tool that lets you easily see what needs your attention and quickly take action on what grows your business.
