Time is the biggest limiting factor of them all. After all, there’s never a shortage of opportunity – rather, only a limit on how much you can get done with the limited amount of time you have available.
Time is “the greatest equalizer.”
It doesn’t matter who you are or how much money you have, we all have one thing in common: just 24 hours in a day.
When you look at the biggest differences between those who seemingly keep their business on the growth tracks and those who struggle… The former has maximized their use of time, while the latter is still trading hours for dollars.
One person works one hour and gets 10x output – but the average entrepreneur works one hour and gets just one hour of output.
How’s this possible?
The Greek mathematician, Archimedes, gave us the answer:
That’s the concept of leverage…
Getting maximum results with the least amount of effort.
As a business owner, the ultimate leverage comes in the form of systems.
It reminds me of a quote by Abe Lincoln:
“If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.”
Systems allow you to create more leverage, bring in more sales, and build a business that’s not dependent on you.
(This is typically the point where I hear entrepreneurs yelling: “AMEN!”)
There are typically 2 groups of entrepreneurs I talk with:
Group 1:
These are business owners who are making plenty of money – but they’re stressed, overworked, and constantly attached to their smartphones…
These are the folks who feel like they can’t get away. They’re eating their lunches at their desks, often find themselves working holidays and weekends, and always missing out on things like coaching their kids games, etc. – all because they’re stuck working inside of their business.
Group 2:
These are folks who love what they do, and their business isn’t growing fast enough because they’re stuck working in the mundane daily operations.
They’re struggling because they don’t have the time to work on the important tasks and strategies that will help them make more money.
In both cases, they’re stuck in a business that’s too dependent on them.
Perhaps you might be able to relate…
You see, many people start a business because they believe it will help them achieve personal and financial freedom.
Some entrepreneurs have visions of extended time off with family and friends… Playing golf and traveling… These are just a few of the rewards people dream of when they start their companies.
But how many of you are actually doing that now?
When reality sets in, many business owners discover that instead of freedom, they have become enslaved to their business – and end up working more hours than their employees.
They end up saying things like:
“I have no life.”
And they’ll inadvertently extinguish the flame of passion they once had.
Whether you’re a solopreneur or have a 200-person company, if you are the linchpin holding everything together – then you, my friend, are stuck.
Like a mouse in a glue trap, your business has got you.
That’s what happens when your business is too dependent on you.
And there are substantial costs (not just financial) associated with this problem: missing out on your kids baseball games and the stress that comes with the inability to disconnect.
So, today I’m going to show you how to fix this problem – so you can build a self-managed, self-growing business that pulls you out of the minutiae of daily operations and lets you focus more of your time on growth…
Let’s start with a question:
If you took a 2-week vacation starting tomorrow – would your business be better than it is now when you come back? Will it have still brought in a consistent flow of leads and sales? Would your clients and employees still be happy?
If you said “no,” you’ve come to the right place…
You’re about to see a whole new way of doing business, and finally get closer to the freedom and life you once thought was possible when you started your business.
For example: one year ago, one of my clients was responsible for closing 90% of sales. Today, he has other people doing the closing for him. This has helped him double his revenue, and has given him the ability to focus on building more strategies and systems to double his business again next year!
So, here’s what systemizing your business can do for you:
• Free Yourself From Your Business: Your business will have the ability to run and grow even when you’re not working…
Now, we’re all smart enough to know that this doesn’t mean you can spend the rest of your life sipping margaritas on the beach… If you do that, you’ll surely be passed up by your competition in a hurry. This is about providing freedom so you’re not working all the time.
And when you are working, you’re spending time on the things that matter the most in your business.
• Reduce your Dependence on Key People: Let’s face it, you can’t build a business that relies on a few key superstars. It’s not scalable! You’ll see how to create a business that turns the average worker into a high performing team player.
• Reduce Training Times for Employees: A systemized process not only saves you time – it reduces mistakes and makes it much easier to scale.
• Produce Consistent and Predictable Revenue: You can eliminate some of those ups and downs with an automated sales and marketing process that nurtures, pre-qualifies, and even sells leads systematically.
• Scale Business Operations
• Make More Money While Working Fewer Hours
I’m talking specifically to entrepreneurs who are working themselves to exhaustion…
…Taking too much caffeine or depending on stress relievers to make it through their days.
…Constantly feeling like they’re disappointing someone – whether they’re passing up opportunities to spend time with the kids, or constantly missing date nights with significant others.
They’re not present with their family…
They’re constantly slipping away to check smartphones or sneaking in more work while everyone else is sleeping…
I’ve been there too.
Rest assured, systematic thinking will dramatically increase your income and scale your business (with predictability and consistency) without sacrificing your freedom in the process.
Naturally, many of you reading this are saying to yourselves:
“I’m only 1 person – and there are only 24 hours every day. I can only do so much.”
We’ve all been there.
In Part 2, I will show you how to predictably grow and scale your business WITHOUT relying on any one person or any one skill… And I think you’ll be surprised when you see how the approach of hiring superstar employees actually hurts your chances of taking your business to the next level.
I’ll also show you how to smash through your current income goals and scale your business to the next level. You see, for most of you – if I snapped my finger and instantly doubled the amount of customers and clients you have right now, you wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Most don’t understand the implications…
More clients means more customer support, more product development, more labor, etc. None of this is possible if you haven’t figured out how to scale.
The best part is that you’ll finally break free of the never-ending grind of running your own business. You MUST find a way to multiply your efforts… Without doing all the work yourself.
Do you ever catch yourself saying things like this?
I’m the only one who can sell my ______.
I’m the only one who knows how to ______.
I’m constantly putting out fires.
Maybe you’re worried that if your key employee leaves, your business will be brought to its knees.
Maybe you say things like: “we’re constantly making mistakes that shouldn’t happen” or “my employee isn’t giving me what I need.”
Either way, if you said “yes” to any of the above, understand that most frustrations are the result of the lack of a good systems.
Dr. W Edwards Deming, the man credited with single handedly transforming Japan from a post-war wreck to one of the strongest economies in the world, said that:
“A bad system will beat a good person every time.”
You need a good system to take your business to the next level.
In Part 2, we’ll dig into how you can build systems of your own…
