When Do You Work On Your Business?

And yes, I purposefully said ON as opposed to IN.

For most small business owners, working in our businesses is almost never a problem – it’s taking the time, as Seth Godin so eloquently put it, to “focus on what you need to do today to win tomorrow.” (~ Seth Godin – find his blog post here) which includes working on our businesses.

When I don’t take the time to support my business with all the things I recommend to you every day, I don’t have the results I want tomorrow.

And yes, it takes some discipline to do this, and what does it look like?  Here are five simple ideas I’ve come up with:

1. Schedule at least 4 hours each week to work on your business – put the time on the calendar and don’t let anything else have a higher priority.
2. Do at least one thing to increase your visibility – create the social media account you’ve been talking about, make some posts to one you already have (Facebook now allows you to create and schedule your posts in advance which makes this really simple now), write a blog post or create (and send) that email marketing piece.
3. Review your email/RSS subscriptions – delete any you are no longer reading (and those you read and wish you didn’t) and add one or two that truly add to your value as an expert, just by reading them.
4. Take on cleaning and clearing loose ends – I find that the things I’ve had on my list deserve one of two resolutions:  1) get them done (no matter how much you hate doing whatever it is), or 2) officially let it go (it’s the “official” part that makes the difference) – if it’s waited this long, how important is it (really)?
5. Delegate something – yes, this is perhaps the hardest one of all, and perhaps the healthiest.  Yes, it may take them a bit more time initially, and think of what you can begin to do with the time you free up.

Beginning this week, I am setting aside time to work on my business.  This week the day was Monday.  I woke up really excited this morning – excited about my business and the ideas I have – and it’s been a great day.  I even heard from a former client who wants a quote.  I’ll be sharing my results and look forward to hearing about yours as well.