The Only Time Hack That Works
Episode 732: Show Notes
How are you spending your time as a business owner, and what are you choosing to prioritize? As the CEO of your company, it’s crucial that you allocate your time in the best way possible. This, however, is much easier said than done. While the internet is populated with countless examples of how to increase your productivity and get more done during your working hours, few of them take into account the myriad of distractions and obligations that you and your clients need to contend with on a daily basis.
In this episode, we break down a time hack we share with our clients that actually works for small businesses (and it doesn’t involve waking up at 5 AM every day!). Our goal is to walk you through what you need to be prioritizing as a CEO and what percentage of your time you should be spending on each category. The lessons we share today will provide you with a fantastic foundation that you can continue to build on. Tune in to learn how you should be spending your time as CEO and how to become confident in the knowledge that your attention is exactly where it should be!
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Client Delivery
The number one trap that most CEOs and small business owners fall into is the inclination to spend too much time on client delivery. As CEO you should only be spending about 30% of your time on this. The remaining 60% is divided into smaller increments across various responsibilities. So while client delivery demands the biggest percentage of your time, it probably still needs to be considerably lower than it currently is. Many of you are probably spending 100% to 90% of your time on client work, even if you don’t realize it. This can have a lot of unintended consequences. The biggest of which is that you neglect other crucial elements of your business, which, in the long run, will decrease the quality of your services and cause a drop in referrals.
It is critical for you to begin to put yourself in other departments for the long-term sustainability of your business. We’re here to help you find a healthy capacity and avoid burnout so that you can have enough leads and sales, while also paying attention to the other areas of your business!
Working on Your Business
The second most important component that you should be spending your time on as CEO is your business. Plain and simple. We’re talking about everything: from administration to business operations, to automated workflows, to scheduling meetings with clients, to all the work that takes place backstage. You should be allocating 20% of your time to working on your business. And if you think this has nothing to do with client delivery and sales, think again! Because clients can sense when things aren’t working behind the scenes. It’s the invisible operations that will create the efficiencies you need to deliver great client work and optimize your output
Prospecting, Marketing, and Sales
The balance of how you spend your time in the following two categories will depend on a few factors. On average you should be spending about 15% of your time on prospecting and marketing, and the remaining 15% on sales. The percentage of time you allocate to these two categories tends to ebb and flow (based on your needs) and will also be determined by your industry and the type of activities that lead to sales. For instance, you may decide to spend 20% on prospecting and marketing and only 10% on sales.
Ultimately it all comes down to finding balance and spending time on the marketing strategies that directly result in more sales. Whether it’s email lists, social media, or paid ads, ask yourself what specifically is getting people to notice your product and say “Yes, I’m interested”. That will give you an excellent indication of where you should be spending your time.
Making Time For Leadership
Next up is an activity that many people assume CEOs spend most of their time on, but in reality, it often accounts for a surprisingly small percentage of your time (even though it’s the thing that most CEOs enjoy more than anything else). We are of course referring to leadership and the time that you use to dream, ideate, and strategize. It also includes your personal and professional development. This should account for 10% of your time, which may not seem like a lot, but in a standard 40-hour work week that still amounts to a full 4 hours. And you can accomplish a lot in that time! You also have the option of spreading it over a few days or spending it all on one half-day.
Internal Meetings
Our final category is something that often gets neglected (especially with growing businesses) and, depending on your team, this section may currently be non-existent for you. We recommend that you spend 10% of your weekly schedule on internal meetings. That means checking in on your team. These are internal meetings with anyone that you work with, whether they’re employees or contractors (not your clients!). We want to make sure that you have a dedicated space for this. It can be something as simple as a regular Slack message, or as consistent as a weekly meeting, but it’s an important opportunity to develop community within your team and build camaraderie. These things don’t materialize out of thin air so you need to be intentional about building them!
Find Out How To Join The Boss Project Incubator
We’re excited to announce that we’re welcoming a new cohort into our Boss Project Incubator! If you’re interested in what we spoke about today and want to learn how to scale and grow in a way that aligns with your values, reach out to us here. Abagail has time reserved on her calendar just for you! We’ve helped tons of clients at various stages of their business define their goals and implement winning strategies. So if you’re interested in what we talked about today and want to learn more, contact us for a pressure-free conversation where we discuss where you’re at and whether this program is right for you!
Quote This
If untangling all this feels like a lot, know that you're not alone. You could have this 100% wrong, and that presents an opportunity.
Highlights
Client Delivery [0:16:34]
Working on Your Business [0:20:53]
Prospecting, Marketing, and Sales [0:22:31]
Making Time For Leadership [0:26:33]
Internal Meetings [0:31:12]
Find Out How To Join The Boss Project Incubator [0:33:29]
Today’s Guest:
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
The Strategy Hour Podcast is a twice weekly show hosted by Abagail Pumphrey and Emylee Williams, the founders of Boss Project. Join us for semi-ranty biz conversations for service providers looking to ethically grow their agency businesses. Episodes cover everything from lead generation to leadership mindset to team culture and beyond.
Key Topics:
CEO, Scheduling, Planning, Prospecting, Leads, Marketing, Sales, Leadership, Internal Meetings, Community
