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My “Break-In” Was A Nut Case…But What’s Stealing Your Time And Money?

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A couple of weeks ago I returned home from Fast Implementation Bootcamp to find things out of place…

When I walked in my home, I knew immediately someone or something had been there.

Papers I had left on the table were askew…two of the pottery mugs I made were now on the floor, not on the counter where I had left them ready to ship out…

And there were pieces of dried fruit on my couch which I was 100% sure I didn’t leave.

I walked around my house opening closet doors…it was kind of like one of those scenes from a horror movie…half expecting someone or something to appear.

During my search, I discovered an open window with a hole chewed through my screen…

Then I saw the bag of trail mix left over from SuperConference ripped open and lying on the floor by the couch. All the nuts were missing.  Only the dried fruit remained.

The scene made me think about the moment you change from being an employee to an entrepreneur…

You go from knowing where everything is and what’s going on to a bit of chaos where things aren’t the way you expected they would be.

You think you’ve got everything in place to run a profitable, successful business. But in reality, something isn’t quite right. So you spend a lot of time searching for the right strategies, the right systems—trying to figure out which door will reveal “the thing” that will lead to success.

Too often the result is you going crazy trying to figure it out—sometimes not accomplishing much—other than knowing you need to find the answer.

Some entrepreneurs don’t get so swept away with this, but instead they identify the little things and fix those. Often because they are so swept up in the details they completely miss the big picture stuff that will move their business forward.

The problem is that when you shift from working for someone else to working for yourself, you discover that you are completely responsible for your time and success.

Instead of having someone define what you should be doing and when you should be doing it, suddenly you have to decide what to do and when to do it.

The good news is there are simple steps to subdue the “time and money thief” and accomplish more:

Have a plan for your day. When I came home to things out of place, I didn’t freak out and run to the neighbors. Instead I made a quick plan for what I should do.

Each day, it’s almost inevitable that your routine will be derailed by something unexpected. A new customer calls and needs help. You receive emails that need to be answered. A personal issue arises that can’t wait.  When this happens, it is natural to react to what is happening in your business. With a solid plan in place, you’ll have a time, place and way to deal with these unexpected interruptions so you can stay on track to reach your goals.

Survey before concentrating on details. When I found my papers knocked over, mugs on the floor and food on the couch, I could have stopped to clean up each mess as I found it.  That would have delayed my figuring out that the coast was clear. Survey everything that is going on in your business and look at all of your possible options before you get caught up in the little details that are of lesser priority.

Access the big picture before deciding what needs to be done.  When I arrived home I looked around at everything—opening every door and scanning my entire home. This allowed me to see that whatever had been there was now gone. I also figured out that an animal, most likely a squirrel, had gotten into my house by chewing through my screen. Had I not taken the time to access the situation, I might have reacted by immediately calling the police, wrongly thinking I had been burglarized. However accessing the situation told me the logical choice was to shut my window to close off access to my home.

The same problem exists in business. For example, let’s say you want to increase your sales of a product, so you decide you should send out a follow-up email campaign which directs consumers to a sales page. While the emails send a lot of traffic back to your sales page, your sales don’t increase. You discover that what you really need to do is fix the copy on your sales page, something you would have discovered if you would have looked at your sales metrics from your sales page to begin with.

Remember don’t just react, make a plan. Focus on the big picture. And before making a determination about what needs to be done, find out what is really happening and what will make the biggest impact on your business.

NOTE: If you’re looking for a ready-made plan that will eliminate the “figuring out what to do” part and give you  the best strategies to put in place right now to make the biggest impact—have I got a deal for you!  Come to our next Fast Implementation Bootcamp and you’ll receive the exact steps to take that will save you time and give you serious business growth.  And the best part is that this is a FREE event open to ALL GKIC members. Learn more


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