You may or may not have heard of Anthony Gatto – arguably the best juggler who’s ever lived. Gatto was already considered a world-class juggler by the age of nine. At age 10, he began his professional career performing in Vegas, and still holds several juggling world records. Gatto once juggled 8 balls simultaneously for an astounding 1 minute 13 seconds – a record that’s held since 2006.
As an entrepreneur or business owner – you might feel like an Anthony Gatto – juggling so many things at once, you’re just waiting to drop the ball on something. But what if running a business didn’t have to feel like a circus act?
Over the years in working with thousands of different business owners, we’ve developed a formula for helping business owners get things off their plate, so they can refocus their efforts on their company growth and success. The thing that has amazed us, is how simple it is, and yet still so underutilized by today’s founders. Some are scared of the change, and some simply don’t have the time to pause and assess how their time is truly being spent. But following the steps below is one of the most strategic investments you can make for your company—it will give you an abundant return on the one non-renewable resource your company has: your time.
Define Out What Your ‘Genius’ Is
You probably started a business or got to the executive level of your company because you’re excellent at something. What’s that something? Answer that question and you’ve identified your ‘genius’. Is it growth strategy? Developing relationships with clients? Coaching? Consulting? Once you’ve identified it, begin jettisoning everything that prevents you from spending 98% of your time on that ONE thing. Let yourself get back to your genius by following the steps below:
Audit Your To-Do List
For one week, invest 10-15 minutes after each workday while its fresh in your mind, writing down exactly how you spent your time for that day. Get extremely detailed. Did you research a dinner spot for date night between client calls? Did you spend 3 minutes scheduling meetings? 2-3 minutes editing an email? Account for each and every task. This can be cumbersome, but it will have a huge payout in helping you identify where your time is going and where you need to shift your focus. (There are some great tools out there to help you with this, like RescueTime.)
Once you have your list, highlight any tasks on it that you wouldn’t consider to be your “genius”. Then, look for patterns. How much time are you spending on email? Distracted by planning travel? Categorize the top 10 tasks that cause the biggest time suck in your day.
Research Your ‘Handout’ Strategy
Now, you have your list of time-suckers. So, what’s the BEST way to get all of these extraneous activities off your plate? Three words: trusted right hand.
Now, I know for some that sounds like a gross oversimplification—it couldn’t possibly be that easy. Actually it is, and here’s why: there is a new way to get the immediate help you need for your business, giving you access to trusted, highly skilled executive assistants, project managers, marketing specialists, bookkeepers and more, for exactly the amount of time you need them each month, on a monthly subscription. I’m talking seasoned professionals with 10-15 years of experience in their specialist field that have given up successful careers in corporate to work remotely, and both the challenge and satisfaction of working with growing businesses like yours. Want an assistant with the same skills you’d expect if you were a Fortune 500 executive? You got it!
There are just a few things to keep in mind when you’re looking at this option, as we go into in the next point.
Go For Premium
Nothing wastes time quite as much as trying to delegate, and then finding out down the road that the talent you are working with isn’t quite meeting your expectations. Trust me, I’ve seen it time and time again with clients that come to us stressed and frustrated after trying different solutions that didn’t work out for them, and ended up eating more time than they saved. So how can this be avoided? Go premium, and look for long-term support you can trust. Get someone that can integrate into your team, and learn your business and culture.
Hiring remote support should follow the same rule as hiring in-house: find the best person for the job, not just the “available” person. Working with a premium company assures that you’re getting matched with someone who is directly skilled and experienced in the area they’ll be taking over for you. You’re not just handed any person who might be able to do your task, you’re strategically paired with someone who has a proven track record of handling tasks like yours, and with great results. Not only that but you’ll be matched with someone you click with, so you’ll enjoy working together.
In the same vein, you’ll want to look for ongoing long-term support, so that you are working with someone dedicated to you. If you’re going to train someone in how to take over tasks for you, make sure they’ll be around long enough to make good use of that investment in your time. Building a working partnership with a dedicated, experienced right hand to take things over from you, learn the exact way you’d do them and remove them completely from your plate, is THE way to approach getting support for your business.
So don’t wait. Follow the steps above to gain back some big time, and stop feeling like you’re in the big top. Now, let’s leave the juggling to Gatto and start growing our businesses, shall we?
