The Productive Entrepreneur: Run Your 1-Person Business Like a 3-Person Business
While it's wonderful not to have to
worry about the drama or indignities
of the typical corporate job, as a "solopreneur,"
you face certain difficulties that
larger businesses don't—not least
the fact that you have to wear all
the hats at once. Obviously, that's
not an impossible task; at last
count, there were about 20 million
single-person businesses in the USA,
accounting for a whopping
three-quarters of all businesses.
This does not, however, mean that
it's easy.
If you expect to succeed as an
entrepreneur, hard work is a given.
Now, we've all heard the business
cliché "Work smarter, not
harder"—and while that statement
does hold a grain of truth, you
actually have to do both. True
productivity means working hard by
working smart, using every business
technique you can implement as what
the military calls "force
multipliers," allowing you to
overcome your personal limitations.
In this article, I'll outline five
interrelated strategies that can
help you maximize your productivity
in startlingly effective ways,
allowing you to handle your business
as if you were three people (or
more) rather than just one.
1. Time Management
Managing your time wisely may be the
most effective force multiplier
there is, no matter what kind of
business you run. While the details
vary, this technique is as
applicable to the sole proprietor as
to the CEO of a Fortune 100 company.
If you don't set goals, shut down
distractions and interruptions,
ruthlessly prune away the trivial
and, most importantly, have the
willpower to stick to your guns,
you'll be left behind by those who
do. Or run down, more likely.
There will never be enough time to
do everything, but there will
be enough time to do the most
important things, so you have to
force yourself to be efficient.
Start by creating a personal
scheduling and organization system,
which can be paper-based,
electronic, or some hybrid of both.
Once you've got your system in
place, put everything into it:
schedules, project due dates,
special events, business cards,
client and networking contacts,
notes, communication and meeting
notes, category lists, and to-do
lists.
Speaking of to-do lists, they're
arguably the single most important
element of any effective time
management system—especially your
daily lists. Keeping the 80/20 rule
in mind, focus tightly on the few
most important items on your lists
and get them done first. Do whatever
else you can in the time you have
left over. Don't hesitate to defer,
delegate, or simply abandon your
lowest-value tasks if you need to.
And remember: never let a need for
perfection paralyze you. Once you've
blocked out a concept for what you
want to achieve within the basic
framework of your overarching goals,
collect the data you require and
move forward when you have enough to
work with. Take care of the details
as they come; you can't plan for
everything in advance anyway, so
don't let that worry you.
2. Focus on What's Important
In any business context, your truly
important tasks should always be the
most profitable ones, whatever they
may be. Once you've gotten your
priorities straight, the real
challenge is keeping other things
from distracting you. Thus, you have
to hone your focus to a keen edge,
so you can easily slice through
anything that might keep you from
maximizing your productivity.
First, you have to give the task at
hand your undivided attention, so
abandon the entire idea of
multi-tasking. It's been proven to
hurt more than it helps. Next, if
you can, do your most important task
at the time of day when you’re at
your highest energy level. Some of
us are morning people; some of us
work better in the afternoon. You
know yourself best, so select the
appropriate time for you, and lock
it down so you can focus.
Banish any tendency toward
procrastination, which often pops up
when we're faced with tasks we
dislike, or that seem overwhelming,
or that we're afraid of. Whatever
the cause, procrastination is
damaging; it blows a task out of
proportion and makes it seem harder
than it actually is. Even when a
task is particularly difficult, all
you can do is get started. Break it
down into smaller tasks with their
own deadlines.
Be sure to insulate yourself from
all distractions. According to a
recent survey, 28% of the average
workday is wasted on unnecessary
distractions and recovery of focus.
So shut your office door, or find a
quiet place to work. Limit your
social interaction for the duration
of your work period. If possible,
turn off your phones and
electronics, answering messages only
during specific blocks of time. Very
little is so important that you have
to respond to it instantly.
3. Hone Your Self-Discipline
Wouldn’t it be great to wake up and
decide to go to the beach instead of
to your office or storefront? How
would you like to sleep in every
day, and then put in one of those
fabulous four-hour work weeks when
you get around to it?
Sadly, this scenario isn't anything
like the real world. In order to
succeed, you need to have the
self-discipline to apply yourself
consistently to your tasks, whether
you feel like it or not. And being
human, there will be days
when the spirit rebels...and the
flesh isn't especially willing,
either. But you can't afford to
indulge yourself often when you're
an independent entrepreneur.
Self-discipline is closely linked to
both focus and time management,
because neither is possible without
it. If you ruthlessly shut out
distractions and avoid acting on
impulse, then maximizing your
time-use comes much more naturally,
with high productivity naturally
following. Procrastination goes
right out the window, because you
just don't have time for it. Ditto
for perfectionism.
At its most basic, self-discipline
is a form of selective self-training
that helps you take full control
over your life, and that's where its
chief value lies. It can take a lot
of work to harness the power of
self-discipline; but once you've
gotten into the habit, then you've
set the stage for consistently
improving yourself and reaching your
goals.
Basically, it all comes down to
routine. You have to allocate a
specific amount of time for each
task, and try to set it in stone.
Don’t compromise on your routines,
because that's how you maximize
productivity. If you do slip, don't
get discouraged; just climb right
back on that self-discipline horse
and keep moving.
If your routine gets derailed and
nothing else seems to work, here's a
good way to buckle down and get back
on track: promise yourself you'll do
just a little more work before
taking a break. You might tell
yourself, "I'll work another fifteen
minutes on this article," or decide
you'll rest after outlining five
action items on next week's agenda.
Then, when you've reached your goal,
take a look at how you feel about
continuing. At that point, it may be
easy to keep going because you've
hit your stride.
Even if you can't manage to
continue, you'll have gotten some
work done. Reward yourself for that:
take a break, get a cup of tea, or
do something else that makes you
feel good. Then come back and get
started on the next task.
Eventually, moving forward with your
tasks and staying on point will
become easier, and self-discipline
will seem less like a yoke than like
a tool that frees you to get more
done.
4. Play To Your Strengths
Work is always more enjoyable if
you're doing what you're good at.
It's easier to focus, keep yourself
on track, and maximize your
efficiency, if only because you feel
more empowered and fulfilled by what
you're doing. You've heard the old
saying: "Find something you love to
do, and you'll never work a day in
your life." It may sound trite, but
it's true.
That's why I advise you to always to
play to your strengths. Determine
what you're best at, and then work
out the most effective ways to
leverage those talents. Now, some
people will advise you to focus
instead on overcoming your
weaknesses before you do anything
else. While I understand the desire
to better yourself, I think this is
terrible business advice. If you're
a horrible accountant but you can
sell ice to Eskimos, then what
should you hone: your accounting
skills, or your marketing skills?
What would be most profitable for
you?
The choice is pretty easy, isn't it?
Why should you push and push to go
from being mediocre to so-so at one
task, when you can work on going
from great to superb at something
else—and enjoy life a whole lot
more? In most cases, focusing on
your weaknesses is just a waste of
time and talent.
If you're not sure where your
strengths lie, sit down and think
about the things you most enjoy
doing—the ones where you drop into
"the zone" and complete your work
without noticing time passing. Then
seek feedback from others; what do
they think you're good at?
Take their feedback into
consideration and compare it to your
own experiences. Where do they jibe?
Most importantly, which of your
favorite tasks is the most
profitable?
That's where you should focus most
of your efforts. Even if you love
mowing the grass, you should hire
someone else to do that. Which
brings us to our final topic...
5. Outsourcing
While you should never abdicate
responsibility for anything within
your purview, it's perfectly
acceptable to delegate it to someone
else. In fact, it's just good
business sense. Even when you're the
one and only employee of your
company, you can always outsource
all the jobs where you’re weak or
just don't have time to do because
you're too busy making money.
The concept of active outsourcing
has been very much in vogue since
Tim Ferris popularized it in his
book The 4-Hour Workweek, but
it’s nothing new—savvy entrepreneurs
have been practicing it for decades.
And in the Internet era, where a
whole world of people is literally
at your fingertips, it's easier than
ever to delegate your work to
others.
In fact, I'd recommend that you
outsource as much of your work as
you can afford to. This is one of
the most cogent force multipliers
available to the modern business
professional. If you can't keep the
books to save your life, hire a
professional who can. Hire others to
provide IT services, wash windows,
mow the lawn, process payments, dust
shelves, built your website, submit
the taxes, do the payroll, conduct
inventory, provide customer service,
and deliver items. This can help you
control costs, increase your
efficiency, and level the business
playing field so that it's easier to
compete with the big guys.
With all the little stuff out of the
way, you can focus on whatever you
can do that serves the business the
most profitably. Stay within your
area of expertise, and rarely (if
ever) do anything that someone else
can do better or more cheaply than
you can.
Don't micromanage, but keep an eye
on your staff or outsourcers to make
sure they stay on track and provide
services in a timely manner.
Accountability is a must, and should
be ensured by regular reporting. And
consider carefully before you select
an offshore provider for items that
can be serviced that way. While
there's certainly nothing wrong with
offshore help, some tasks require
providers who are immediately
accessible, or who understand your
culture because they're a member of
it. That's when you should go for
domestic "homeshore" providers.
In Conclusion
Running the show alone can be a real
pain in the tuchus, a lot like
juggling a dozen balls at once. But
if you're willing to put in some
effort, you can learn how to
maximize your efficiency such that
your solo effort is as efficient as
any three-person business. Just take
a deep breath, apply the methods
I've outlined here, and start
pushing forward. Believe me, after a
while it gets a whole lot easier!
Make it a productive day! ™
If you enjoyed this article, you can
register for the April 22, 2011
webinar on exactly how to do this!
http://www.theproductivitypro.com/2011webinars.
Make it a productive day! (TM)
(C) Copyright 2011 Laura Stack. All rights reserved.
© 2011 Laura Stack. Laura Stack is a personal productivity expert, author, and professional speaker whose mission is to build high-performance productivity cultures in organizations by creating Maximum Results in Minimum Time®. She is the president of The Productivity Pro®, Inc., a time management training firm specializing in productivity improvement in high-stress organizations and the 2011-2012 President of the National Speakers Association. Since 1992, Laura has presented keynotes and seminars on improving output, lowering stress, and saving time in today’s workplaces. She is the bestselling author of four books: SUPERCOMPETENT; The Exhaustion Cure; Find More Time; and Leave the Office Earlier. Laura has been a spokesperson for Microsoft, 3M, Xerox, and Office Depot. She is the creator of The Productivity Pro® planner by Day-Timer and has been featured on the CBS Early Show, CNN, and the New York Times. Her clients include Starbucks, Cisco Systems, Wal-Mart, and Bank of America. To have Laura speak at your next event, call 303-471-7401 or visit www.TheProductivityPro.com to sign up for her free monthly productivity newsletter.