Are you contaminated with business diseases that you choose not to recognize or maybe even worse, you just don’t know you have them? Through my years of experience in the corporate world and now as a business owner myself, I found that there are at least three business diseases that many entrepreneurs or solo professionals are contaminated with, but do not recognize or simply choose to ignore. These three major issues are like diseases that slowly can kill any business.
Syndrome #1 - “Yes, No Problem”:
In your rush to get your one man business to a profitable level you often, if not always, find yourself accepting every single project from every single client. New prospects quickly are accepted because you need the “money”, right? Well, even though you think your business is being successful it actually is getting very sick… you are getting physically and emotionally sick. Before you hit this stage you need to stop for a moment, step back, put your business and your personal life on a balance and analyze what is happening. Your analysis will provide you with the pros and cons of saying “Yes, No Problem” to every project and every prospect. Most importantly, your analysis will also provide you with the solution or solutions you need to implement to avoid your business from dying of this disease.
Syndrome #2 – “I Don’t Have Time”:
Do you find yourself pronouncing these words once too often? If so, that means you have the “Time Management” disease. You probably haven’t realized that your time management skills need to be reviewed. How much time are you putting into each of your daily activities? Take one day and write down a journal of each activity jotting down the time that you start it and the time you end it. At the end of the day analyze each activity and the length of time you dedicated to it. Is it worth that much time? Is that activity taking up time that is better used on a productive activity or on your family? Your analysis will help you determine where your time should be best allocated.
Syndrome #3 – “I Can Do It Myself”:
Yes, you know how to do it so you think you should do it, right? Wrong. One of the most important skills an entrepreneur should quickly learn is to delegate. You, as a business owner, should be doing ONLY those activities directly related to the core of your business. Everything else can be done by someone else. How to determine what to delegate? Simple. Make two lists. On one list you will write down all the activities that are revenue generating – those that make the money. On the other list you write down everything else. That second list is what you will have someone else do. If you follow this procedure your productivity will increase tremendously. You will feel free and with more energy for yourself and your family.
You may have also noticed that the three syndromes I mentioned above can all be easily cured with applying one simple solution: OUTSOURCING. If you outsource your non revenue generating activities, you will be able to always say “Yes, No Problem” because you will have the necessary support to accept more and more projects and new clients; your Time Management skills will be sharpened and most important, you will be able to give time to do what you really love to do: taking care of yourself, your family and your business.
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