Ezine Archives

"GO FURTHER FASTER"
~ success strategies for service businesses ~

October 1, 2002

You Get Out What You Put In!
by Kimberly Stevens kim@askthebizcoach.com

* PUBLISHER’S NOTE
* BIG ANNOUNCEMENT  ~.~  Coaching Groups Forming NOW!
* FEATURE COLUMN  ~.~  You Get Out What You Put In!
* NOW IT’S YOUR TURN  ~.~  What Do You Put Into Your Business?
* TELL A FRIEND  ~.~  Help spread the word about this ezine
* SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  PUBLISHER'S NOTE ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Dear Reader,

When I first started my web site design business, I was working my buns off.  I lived in the historic district of Annapolis and could walk to the waterfront within 5 minutes, but yet I sat at my desk toiling away the entire day.

I’d run out to a local potato joint, pick up my lunch, and walk right back to my desk to eat it.  Doesn’t sound like much fun, does it?

My then-boyfriend-now-husband traveled 4 days/week, so that gave me even more time – nights - to devote to my business.  I figured the more I worked, the sooner I would reach “SUCCESS” – as if it were a destination.

The only problem with this logic is that … IT’S NOT TRUE!

 

Business success is not a function of the number of hours you spend at your desk.  It’s what you do during those hours.  It’s who you meet.  It’s whether you have selling skills.  It’s how you manage your time.  It’s how much money you spend on overhead and other expenses. It’s much, much more.  It’s a combination of all of the decisions you make each and every day.

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Business success is based on experience.  Time is but one facet of “experience” – the rest is made up of what you know, who you know, who you are, and how you do things.

If you’ve ever found yourself thinking that the results you’re seeing are not equivalent to the amount of time and effort you are putting in … read on!

Also, read about the Coaching Groups I’m forming now to begin in November.

Best of Success!

Kimberly Stevens
Business Life Coach
Ask The Biz Coach, LLC
kim@askthebizcoach.com

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  ANNOUNCEMENT  ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

              Coaching Groups Forming for November!

I have opened up a new Coaching Group to begin meeting in November.  You are an ideal candidate for coaching if there is

a

gap between what you have in your life/business now and what you want for yourself.

The group is open to anyone who is a business owner. It doesn’t matter what type of business you have or what types of issues you want to discuss.  Coaching is about meeting you where you are and supporting you in getting where you want to go.

     http://www.askthebizcoach.com/coaching.htm

I offer Business Life Coaching which means I coach the whole business owner and support him/her in creating a more fulfilling personal life as well as a more successful business.

It’s critically important that there is a good “fit” between myself and my clients – that we are comfortable together and that I believe I can make a difference in their life.  For this reason, I offer a completely free, no-obligation 30-minute coaching session so:

Take a few minutes to read over the information on the two pages linked above.  Then, if you’d like to explore the possibility of working with me, give me a call or an email to schedule your complimentary coaching session:   call 410.721.8522 or email kim@askthebizcoach.com

I’m not a used-car salesperson. There won’t be a sales pitch. There won’t be pressure.  In fact, there won’t even be follow-up. I believe in “Marketing by Attraction”.  If you believe I can help you, you’ll tell me so or get back in touch after our call.  If you don’t, I wish you the best of success!

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  FEATURE COLUMN  ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

You Get Out What You Put In!
by Kimberly Stevens, Business Life Coach

During a recent coaching session with Mark, I was briefly reminded of how it feels to give your all to your business and have it spit in your face.

“I just don’t get it!  I’m putting all my time and energy into this business, and I’m still scraping by.  I’m so tired of fighting to ‘just to make it’ but this is what I really want to do.”

“Tell me about what’s happening in your life,” I inquired.

“My wife says I’m spending too much time working, and I know she’s right.  But I also know that I’m the one who is responsible for paying most of the bills.  As it is, I’m probably working 80 hours a week.”

“I really want to spend more time with her and our son, but if we’re barely making it now, I can’t imagine what would happen if I slowed down.  I’d lose the business for sure.  What I need is more time, not less.”

Oh, it was terrible to hear Mark experiencing such pain.  It brought back all of the feelings I had also experienced during the first years of my business several years earlier.

He had fallen into the same trap that many of us do.  He believed that his degree of business success was directly related to the number of hours he put in.  And, I knew, that until we altered that belief, he would never be free to achieve great financial success and to enjoy the freedom that the life of a business owner can provide.

Somewhere along the way, many of us pick up the perceived connection between time and results.  Yes, it’s true that if you spend 10 hours a day practicing piano that you will likely be a better performer than if you spend 5 minutes a day.

And that same logic might apply to specific skills you use in your business.  If you spend 4 hours every day doing anything (creating graphic designs, writing press releases, writing sales letters), you will undoubtedly develop your skills.

But, in an endeavor like business, success is based on much more than the total amount of time you put in.  It’s based on what you do during that time, what skills you have, what customers want, how you present yourself, what you charge, how you market your business, etc.

Some things in life are easy …

The stinker part about running a business is that you get out what you put in.  And, it’s not easy to figure out what the monster wants to eat – but that’s your job as a business owner.

If you spend countless hours networking at events that don’t yield results, you are adding time to your week.  If you re-create the wheel every time you have to put a proposal together, you are taking up time that you could be spending on other marketing activities, taking a lunch break, spending the afternoon with your spouse and kids.  If you are starting numerous projects without bringing any of them to completion, you are wasting time spinning your wheels rather than profiting from one of those great ideas.

You see, it’s important that you know where your time is going, what results you are getting from how you spend it, and what price you are paying (both professionally and personally) for spending so much time in your business.

Please don’t take years to learn this one.  It’s a truth.  If you figure out what your monster wants to eat, and you feed it to him on a regular basis, he will give you the key to the kingdom!

Best of Luck!

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  NOW, IT’S YOUR TURN  ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

What Do You Put Into Your Business?

Don’t hate me when I ask you to track your time.  ‘How boring’ you might say.  Doesn’t she understand that taking the time to track my time just takes more time (you can read that line again if you need to!)

Yes, it can be boring and it does take a little bit of time. However, if you invest tiny little bits of time throughout the day (adding up to only 10 minutes/day probably), you can discover the keys to propelling your business forward.

Start today by tracking how you spend your time (track every15 minute segment) for the next 5-7 days.  Include all the time you spend working, including evenings and weekends.

After the week is over, look back over the completed worksheets and tell me what you see.  Look for things like:

Too much time spent on office work could tell you that you need to outsource some of your administrative work.

Too much time spent on email might tell you that you need to stop reading so many ezines (except this one!), only read/answer personal email during off hours, or learn how to use the sorting function of your email program so the most important emails are highlighted.

Too much time spent on marketing efforts that are not yielding new customers could tell you that it’s time to quit that networking club or stop using direct mail, so you’ll have more time to invest in the types of marketing that are working well for your business (where have your current customers come from?  Do more of that!)

Too much time spent attending prospect meetings might tell you that you need to reduce the geographic area you are targeting in order to decrease the time it takes to go to/from prospect and client meetings.

Too much time spent writing a proposal might tell you that you need to automate your process more so that you only have to input a few items of data to create each new proposal, contract, or spreadsheet.

There is so much to learn by tracking your time.  Yes, it might be boring, but it’s an investment of 10 minutes a day for a week that might just buy you the freedom and financial success you’ve been seeking.

If you try this exercise and learn something new, email me to let me know.  I’d love to hear from you at:  kim@askthebizcoach.com

Happy Time Tracking!

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  TELL A FRIEND  ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

If you know other business owners who would benefit from this ezine, please take 10 seconds to tell them about it at: http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/tellafriend.asp?MerchantID=25548

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  ASK THE COACH  ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

How can I help you get what you want?  Email me at:

 

                       kim@askthebizcoach.com