Deposit Photos
Most small entrepreneurs create a business because they either have an idea that they believe is profitable, or a technical skill at which they are very good and for which they wish to be more handsomely rewarded. But the typical entrepreneur winds up performing a wide variety of tasks, some of which he had never done before. Inevitably, there will be tasks that the small business owner finds himself doing that he either does poorly, or loathingly. In either case, these chores take far longer than need be. If these assignments were completed by one either skilled at the undertaking, or at least interested in it, the time required would diminish substantially.
You may be a terrific electrician, but sitting down every couple weeks to do your bookkeeping and billing is physically painful. Your charming little clothing boutique may be stunningly decorated, but keeping the dust under control and the floors cleaned, not to mention the toilet scrubbed, is anathema. Perhaps you are a formidable real estate agent who can find and sell even the pickiest buyer a quaint bungalow, but you despise the cold calling necessary to develop leads.
What each of these entrepreneurs will discover is that the tasks that are troublesome or abhorrent will take forever to do. The electrician may be technologically challenged and the computer program her accountant suggested is baffling. Our boutique owner may simply hate cleaning. And our agent may be a dynamite salesman in person, but has a speech impediment that makes telephone contact problematic.
Many an entrepreneur bogs down in a myriad of details that she believes are required. Unfortunately, the common result is that the electrician’s books and records are not kept up, the boutique gets a little dusty, and our real estate agent struggles to make decent coin despite having dynamite personal sales skills. Or, each of our intrepid business owners takes courses, watches YouTube videos, or finds any means to strengthen this facet of company operations.
There is a more radical way upon which we can look at this scenario. When faced with the task for which you are incapable or unwilling, consider analyzing the duty along a five-step approach:
- The first step is to ask if the task can be eliminated. Clearly our electrician needs books and records, and a boutique that isn’t neat is bleak. But what of our salesman? At first blush, it seems that avoiding telephone cold calling isn’t possible. What if the cold call was an e-mail, with a link to a video that highlights his terrific sales prowess? What if he strengthened his referral program, making cold calls less of a necessity? There may be ways to eliminate or at least significantly reduce the need for cold calling by phone.
- Second, if the task cannot be eliminated, can it be automated? Could our boutique owner organize her shop so that a programmable robot vacuums the floor for her? Can our electrician get more user-friendly software that integrates books and billing? In other words, is a difficult task one that can be automated with an auto responder, different software, templates or forms, or similar processes?
- Third, if not eliminated or automated, is a particular duty or chore one that could be handled by a virtual assistant? As a corollary to this, does the VA have to be US-based or would an offshore individual work as well? Bookkeeping and billing, if simple enough, could be a candidate to be taken up by an assistant. Moreover, you may even be able to locate a lower-priced assistant outside our shores, as the VA would likely interact only with you, and language proficiency or other skills typically found in better stead domestically may not be necessary.
- Fourth, if you can’t eliminate something, or automate it, and it is something beyond the capabilities of a VA, can you turn to an independent contractor to handle this task for you? Could our real estate agent hire a licensed assistant to cold call for her, and then, because the assistant holds a valid real estate license, split off part of the commission for successful transactions? If our boutique owner has the cash flow, and is mindful of adding to the monthly nut, she too could hire a contractor to periodically tidy up.
- Fifth and finally, suppose you have a task that can’t be eliminated, automated, or outsourced to a VA or independent contractor. In other words, it has to be done, and most likely by you. At this point, consider consulting with others about a better way to accomplish the duty.
There is a cheap and dirty research tool, one that professionals use often: ask a colleague for help. Perhaps you know another solo entrepreneur or two that likely does the same hated task and might have a better way.
There is always the Internet for research, although care must be taken not to wind up spending hours of fruitless time. It’s regrettably too easy to wind up in a series of endless loops.
If you joined or started a mastermind group of like-minded entrepreneurs, your task could be one to post in a chat room, or forum, or bring up for in-person discussion if your group meets in such manner. Even if others have not come across a similar situation, brainstorming and creative thinking often leads to good results. After all, that’s one of the reasons you hooked up with these folks.
Finally, coaches and consultants are available who help the entrepreneur with efficiencies. These professionals have already researched many of the tasks with which you struggle. Rather than making the same mistakes over and over, learn from your coach. It’s a lot easier and cheaper.
To implement this suggestion and take it to heart, you must first get a grasp of what it is you do day-to-day, week-to-week and month-to-month. Keep a journal of your activities. Invariably one or more of the things that you do on a regular basis will surprise you with the vast amount of time it consumes. This is the red flag for you to take action and tame the task tiger.
When you find your satan (remember this word translates to “adversary”), you can run it through the five steps noted above.
Don’t let a few of your tasks, particularly ones that you don’t do well or don’t enjoy, tarnish your entrepreneurial glow. We all have things that we don’t look forward to doing. The difference is that you no longer have a boss. You can choose to do something about the chores that chafe. In the process, you will become a more efficient entrepreneur, which leads to greater success.