As an entrepreneur, it’s important to be careful with our money to ensure we are spending money wisely. Obviously, there are a number of things as entrepreneurs that we must spend money on to do it correctly. But while we are doing that, why do we spend our time so freely instead of actively working to save it as well?
Too many entrepreneurs try to take on every task they can rather than outsourcing key pieces of their business that they simply aren’t good at. Here are 6 ways you can focus on saving your time to drive your business forward.
1. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Too many entrepreneurs spend too much time focused on fixing the little things that overall don’t matter that much. Focus on big things to spend your time in the best manner possible.
2. Quickly analyze a money vs. time decision, decide, and move on. In entrepreneurship and business in general, you will make decisions all the time of spending either time or money on something. These are some of the most difficult decisions you’ll make every day. But, you must quickly analyze that decision, make it, and move forward. I see far too many business owners delay constantly in making these decisions. Delays are your biggest enemy in entrepreneurship. Decide and move!
3. Schedule your day. If you don’t know what you want to accomplish the next day or the next hour, you’ll never use your time in the best manner possible. Have a plan and execute it each day.
4. Do away with things that don’t drive your business forward or bring you joy. This is more of a personal sacrifice. Obviously, we can’t work 24/7, but those that work closest to 24/7 are the ones that get ahead. Spend some time with family and do things that bring you significant joy. Do away with the rest. How important is it to watch that sitcom or ball game when you could be making progress on your dream business?
5. Start your day early and finish late. Entrepreneurs don’t sleep in. Entrepreneurs don’t stop working at 5:00. Drive your day around accomplishing as much as possible. Your future business will thank you.
6. Go raise capital or drive revenue growth. It’s OK to do both, but never OK to do neither. If you need to raise capital to generate revenue, then the choice is obvious. In small business, money fixes problems. Money frees up your time to focus on your core business activities to generate more revenue. If you’re not raising money or driving revenue, take a step back and ask yourself what you need to do to get there, and fast.
