by Julia Felton | Dec 23, 2014
Numbers are your best friend in business and yet time and time again I come across business owners who are running blind. They simply don’t know the numbers in their business. And since they don’t know their numbers they don’t know if they are on track to achieve their goals or not.
One of the reasons many business owners are not looking at their numbers are that they are afraid of what they might see. But trust me, taking the ostrich approach and sticking your head in the sand is never a great option. Sure, it might work in the short term but in the long term if your business is losing money each and every month you will soon go bankrupt.
Knowing your numbers helps gives you visibility in your business to know what is ahead and based with this knowledge you can make changes. So for example, if your budgeted to make £10,000 in sales this month and three quarters of the way through the month you realise that you have only banked £5,000 then you can take corrective action. For example you could have a sale of your products to generate some additional revenue or could launch a new product or service.
You see knowledge gives you choices about what to do. It helps put you back in the driving seat of your business – fully leading it- rather than the business running you.
Still not convinced. Here are five ways that tracking your numbers will benefit your business:
1. Know how far you are from reaching your goals.
Scores of research prove that individuals and organizations who set goals are much more likely to achieve them. However, to achieve a goal, you must be able to properly measure your progress. By understanding how your business is doing in both revenues and profits daily, you can tell if you’re on track to achieving your goals and adjust your plans as needed if you’re not.
2. Pinpoint and manage key underlying issues.
There are a handful of smaller activities that effect larger results. For example, the following are often key underlying issues for sales:
- Number of outbound sales calls
- Number of live connections
- Number of proposals given
- Proposal close rate
- Average price per sale
When sales are low, most entrepreneurs don’t know what to fix to see improvement. By tracking each of these numbers, you can instantly know what to fix.
3. Discover problems before it’s too late.
Most entrepreneurs have a bad sales month, then look back to determine what caused it. Had the entrepreneur tracked his numbers on the underlying issues, he could have fixed the problem early on. For example, he might have learned that the number of proposals issued in the first week of the month was low, and made sure more proposals went out the door.
4. Quantify success and failure.
By understanding and tracking your numbers, you can measure whether your business is performing well. For example, if your sales team made 500 outbound calls already, your number of customer complaints is less than 10, and your average delivery time is less than seven days, you can rest assured that your business is running smoothly.
5. Offer team members more constructive feedback.
Tracking and publishing your numbers tells team members what’s important. For example, if you track customer satisfaction, number of refunds, and average customer hold times, your customer service manager knows precisely how he is being judged and what to improve.
One final thought. Don’t just look at your numbers to determine what needs fixing. Use them to pinpoint what’s working well in your business and do more of that. A great tool is to create a business intelligence dashboard that contains all the key metrics that you need to run your business in one place.
Remember: what you measure you treasure. So if you really want to start making more money in your business start paying more attention to the numbers on a daily basis. You’ll be so glad that you did.
And if you’d like help to Accelerate Your Business Profits then please request a complimentary strategy session. I offer a limited number of these each month so apply for one here
by Julia Felton | Nov 26, 2014
Most business owners and entrepreneurs I know don’t plan to fail in their businesses – let’s face it who wants to fail – and yet with 1 in 3 business failing in their first year this is the position many people find themselves in.
And if you have survived the first year, congratulations, but beware because only 50% of those of you who survive the first year will make it through the next four years.
Scary isn’t it.
So what is the the number one cause of this failure? According to Dun & Bradstreet, the primary cause is lack of business planning.
Yes, entrepreneurs and business owners don’t plan to fail. Rather, they fail to plan (which causes them to fail).
To my mind, there are two types of business plans. The first is the business plan you must create when you start your company. The purpose of this plan is to ensure you have fully thought through your venture.
Among other things, this plan includes significant market research. It assesses your market size to ensure the opportunity is big enough. It analyzes customer segments to confirm that customer needs match your company’s proposed product and/or service offerings. And it analyzes the competition to determine how your company will position itself and how you will most effectively compete.
From a strategic standpoint, the business plan must document your marketing plan (how you will secure customers), your human resources plan (who you will hire) and your operations plan (what key milestones you will accomplish and when).
When you’re done, your business plan will confirm your market opportunity and give you a roadmap to follow. It will also be required should you wish to gain funding from investors and lenders.
Now, once your business is up-and-running, you still need a business plan in order to succeed. I refer to this type of business plan as a “strategic plan.” I term it as such because this type of plan requires much less research (since you already know who your customers are, the market fundamentals, and lots of information about your competitors). Rather, the focus of this plan is strategy.
Specifically, this plan needs to identify precisely:
- Where you want your company to be in five years
- What you need to accomplish within the next year to progress you to that point, and
- What your strategy is to complete your key milestones in the next 12 months
It is also useful to undertake a SWOT analysis so that you are clear on your company’s strengths, and opportunities and how best leverage them.And so you are not blind sided you also need to be consciously aware of your company’s weaknesses and where the potential threats might lurk.
I like to keep this strategic plan short (often just one page) and the Growth Accelerator Orbit Plan is a great tool to use. It helps detail on one page your 3-5 year plan in all the key areas of your business. Seeing everything on one page enables you to easily understand how all the different parts integrate in order to create a Joined Up Business. Many of my clients find that armed with this information their original plan does not compute. For example they have not planned for sufficient resource to deliver the revenue targets. Clearly seeing this means that corrective action can be made now before it is too late.
If you don’t take time to do this, you become too tactical. That is, you continue to use the same tactics that have gotten you to the point you are at. And oftentimes, the strategy and tactics that got you where you are today are NOT the strategy and tactics that will get you to the next level.
Creating a business plan when you start your company, and annually creating strategic plans to grow your company is absolutely essential to your success. Research proves it. So, if you want to avoid failure, and achieve maximum success, make sure you are continuously creating, updating and following your business and strategic plans.
Currently there is funding available through Growth Accelerator to help businesses develop both their business and strategic plans, so if you are interested in finding out how I can help you access this funding and create these plans for you then please get in touch – julia@businesshorsepower.com.
Ensure your business success in 2015 by planning for it.
by Julia Felton | Oct 4, 2014
I’m sure you have all heard the story about the big rocks. It goes something like this. A professor asks his class of students to fill up a jar with some big rocks, small rocks and sand. He gives them no idea of which order to put these three items into the jar. What order do you think works best?
If you put the sand in first then it’s more than likely that you won’t be able to get all the big rocks in, but if you fill the jar with the big rocks first, then the small rocks and finally the sand, if by magic everything fits. I share this story because it is the same in business. You always need to focus on the big rocks and generally these will be the revenue producing activities of your business Do these things first at all cost. Then you can focus on the small rocks and finally the sand
The problem that I see happening to business owners time and time again is that they focus on the sand (tiny activities like social media etc) rather than tackling the big rocks. And the one thing I know to be sure is that you don’t tackle the big rocks first they will never get done
I’ve been having my own experience of this lately as I am writing a new book. Every day I used to say that I would get to the book later in the day, but it never happened. The result was that I was severely behind schedule and my book coach was getting frustrated with me. The only option I had eventually was to start my day writing the book, and guess what, with two concerted weeks of writing I completed the first draft. It feels great. I know there is still lots to do before it can get into production however, it is a major accomplishment for me.
So what was stopping me getting on and writing the book to begin with. Well it was my good old friend procrastination. He is a sneaky scoundrel who has an amazing ability to sabotage my business if I let him. So here are my top tips to defeat procrastination.
1. Set goals. Decide what you want and what needs to happen to get it. Be specific. Create a realistic timetable.
2. Commit. Make a contract with yourself. Tell a friend or co-worker or family member your plan. Ask for help when you need it.
3. Set priorities. Make a list of things that need to be done in order of their importance.
4. Get organized. Have the right tools and equipment to do the job. Make lists. Keep a schedule.
5. Think small. Don’t let the whole of the project overwhelm you. Stay in the present and do what you are doing.
6. Break tasks into parts. The “Swiss cheese” approach to getting any major project completed is to break it apart and work on one piece at a time. Reward yourself when you complete one step.
7. Use positive self-talk.
8. Replace excuses with rational, realistic thinking.
9. Realize there is no such thing as perfection. Begin the thing knowing it can never be done perfectly. You’ll do your best. You always do.
10. Reward yourself. Often and generously for accomplishing the smallest of tasks. Celebrate. Pat yourself on the back. Enjoy your accomplishment.
Like many other self-defeating behaviors, procrastination can be overcome. The place to begin is where you are. If you’d like my help in getting you out of procrastination why not apply for one of the limited number of complimentary Success Breakthrough Sessions that I offer every month. This is a sure why way to motivated and back on track.
by Julia Felton | Sep 22, 2014
Building any type of business is not easy… if it was everybody would be doing it and success would not come with the financial and spiritual rewards it brings. Pushing through the tough stuff is what makes the difference between the Entrepreneurs and the Wantrapeneurs.
So on your journey of development and growth you’ll need to look out for these potential Roadblocks…that can Stall your Sales, Plateau your Profits and Destroy your Dreams!
1. Not Knowing your IDEAL BUYING Customer – Sounds simple but so many business owners just don’t have enough clarity or detail on the identity of their ideal buyer so they waste money marketing to people who will never buy their product or service. Remember that a “buyer is a buyer and a non buyer is always a non buyer” as Dan Kennedy has said. Take time to evaluate who exactly is buying your products or services and then start looking for ways to find them in large quantities…
2. Not Investing in Scalable SYSTEMS – As I often say to my Coaching Clients if it’s not Scalable your business is not Sale-able should you wish to sell it. Under investment in IT Systems, Sales and Marketing Systems, Delivery Systems or HR & Recruitment Systems will catch up with you and cause your business growth to stop in it’s tracks. Start investing now to build Assets in Systems and Cash always follows Assets and will accelerate your growth going forward.
3. Recruiting the WRONG Talent into Your Team – Yes, as you build your business you’ll need help from other people and not hiring the right talent at the right time can be fatal to your Growth. This is why I am a big fan of Talent Dynamics as part of your recruitment systems to make sure that you attract the right people who will be in “Flow” in the role so you get the most from them and they love getting up and going to work ever day. Not getting professional help when you recruit your team is in my view a huge mistake that costs businesses more time, energy and money than they ever realise until they get it wrong and have to deal with the fall out. It starts by knowing your own Talent profile so you understand who you need around you to magnify your value
4. Lack of a Blue Ocean STRATEGY – As the saying goes “Hope is not a Strategy” and neither does it work for driving growth in your business. You need a clearly defined Strategic Plan that knows where the Blue Oceans are, how to tap into them and what to sell them. Without this your growth will stop as your market becomes more competitive, crowded and red with volume based price competition.
5. Not Developing Your Business and Leadership SKILLS – There is no way around it, as the Leader in your business it will only grow to the levels of your personal skills. As author of the book Jab Jab Jab Hook Gary Vanderbeck says, “If your company is growing 30% a year, you have to be 30% better by this time next year”. Failing to invest in YOU will lead to challenges in Focus, Finances and Future growth. People often ask me what is the key to the success of my coaching clients and it’s a matter of their mind set…they realise that the hidden key to Growth is to Keep Investing in Yourself until you reach your Growth Goals.
Not investing in YOU is a road block if ever there was one. So if you’d like my help to Jump Start Your Business to the next level then just get in touch. I’ve currently got openings for just a few new clients to help them propel their business forward. Will you be one of them? Just email me at julia@businesshorsepower.com and let’s have a chat to see if we are a great fit for each other.
by Julia Felton | Jul 22, 2014
Great athletes put the odds in their favor by having a routine that helps them start each day right. Most top athletes go through a preparation routine before every game, which starts long before they get on the field. The best ones usually start the moment they awake.
I have found that the way you start something sets the tone, pace and rhythm for how you will sustain and finish something. This is true for your day as well.
How you START the day will very much dictate how the rest of your day will go. It will set the tone, pace and momentum of your performance for the day.
How you START the day will very much dictate how the rest of your day will go.
So if you are going to rebuild your life and lifestyle around one of health, vitality and high-performance, then you need to start at the beginning with how you start your day.
Many of us are aware that top athletes follow the pattern of a preparation routine with a fierce devotion because it activates all sorts of subconscious and autonomic systems that puts them “IN THE ZONE.”
“In the zone” describes a condition of readiness and awareness that helps prepare that person for success.
As a business owner and leader, you set the pace for the rest of your organization. Your company, even if it has just a few employees, is a reflection of you. Sharpen your company by first sharpening yourself at the dawn of each day.
Here are my top three tips on you can get your body, mind and spirit into “the zone” first thing in the morning.
1. BODY
Coming out of bed, your body needs three things for certain–water, protein and movement. Your systems were all working through the night and need to complete their cycles. Starting with 16 ounces of water gets you started on the eight glasses you already know you need to get anyway and begins the benefits that moving fluids through your body starts.
You need protein in your first food of the day, even if you are going for a run or a workout. A protein shake will do. The rest of the food pyramid is open, but even if you are a very light breakfast eater, protein is important.
Movement gets the blood moving, clears the mind and releases energy. Workouts with weights or cardio are great–but sometimes ten minutes of stretching is all you have time or space for. Regardless, don’t let the first 30 minutes of the day get started without moving.
2. MIND
Your mind needs focus or you will waste time and energy in your morning and in your day. The most effective business owners and CEOs that I know actually focus on very few things. Those that receive their focus, receive all of their focus.
I recently heard of a billionaire who shared that one of his keys to success is accomplishing only one thing per day. A very big thing, of course, but from the moment he wakes up until he finishes his day, he throws every available effort at that one thing. Most of us measure our days in volume, not in scale. How many things can we check off on our to do list, rather than how important one particular thing might be. Pick the one BIG thing to accomplish and let your morning open up with that as the focus for your first thoughts.
3. SPIRIT
Part of putting yourself in the zone is achieving alignment of your core energy and your positive emotions. A proven way to do this is through a simple reflection of gratitude. Being grateful, aware of all you have, is a centering action. It starts your day with energy and calm. When you greet your employees, clients, and suppliers throughout the day knowing that you included them in your reflections, they will feel that in your interaction and it will make for a better exchange regardless of the circumstances.
So remember, if you want to be a top performers in your field, put the odds in your favor by putting yourself in the zone first. Then you allow others to follow your lead.
by Julia Felton | Jun 26, 2014
If you want to grow your business and reach the next level of success it is imperative that you create an environment around you that supports this. In my previous blogs I have shared my best tips on how and why decluttering your environment is key to your success. In this blog I will be sharing why it is imperative to create different environments to undertake the different roles that you need to get done in your business.
The big mistake that most business owners make is that they insist of doing all the activities in their business from the same place. You create an office in your home and then conduct all the activities from here. This is a big mistake as it results in us mixing up the different energies of business and this creates stress and overwhelm.
Sitting at a desk to try to study your finances, getting interrupted by phone calls, and then going back to your spreadsheet is like trying to freeze ice and boil water all in the same place. An enormous amount of energy is spent simply trying to switch from one state to another. Of course this is going to cause stress.
The key to cut stress and increase flow is to create a rhythm in your space and time, with five different places linked to your talents.
The ultimate example of this can been seen at Vision Villas in Bali where Roger Hamilton has designed five different pavilions that create five different types of energy. Each of the different energies speaks to each of the different activities of – what, who, when how and why as defined in the Talent Dynamics Pentagram.
Dynamo Space: This is your space to brainstorm, write creatively, come up with new ideas, and answer the question, What? Make it a place where you can pin things up and see the big picture. Don’t take phone calls here or text-message or use any kind of social media. Don’t get stuck in details or distracted by others.
Blaze Space: This is your space to have conversations, answer emails, take phone calls, and answer the question, Who? When you step into this space, you will have everyone’s contact information close at hand, photos of people who are important, and Post-it notes of conversations and threads to follow. Make this a space of conversation, where there is no room to daydream or procrastinate.
Tempo Space: This is your space to be calm and grounded, and to sit with team members to plan or with clients to listen. This is where everything has a When? and Where? This isn’t a place to promote or sell, but a place to provide care and service and take care of smaller people-related activities. Don’t let any overly positive or overly negative energy into this space.
Steel Space: This space allows you to concentrate on the detail, get quiet time, and focus clearly on the How? This is where you keep all your finances and spreadsheets, and where all your detailed files can be easily accessed. Keep out all interruptions, and have no phones, emails, or distractions in this space. Be willing to be critical and to take criticism from here.
Spirit Space: This space inspires you and allows you to reflect on your higher purpose and bigger mission. This is where you get to breathe and bring out your inner smile.
Initially many of you might be thinking Julia there is no way I can carve out all these different spaces at home. I’d invite you to think again. I know a professional speaker who goes to a coffee shop to get inspired and do his creative writing. The energy and the buzz of the coffee shop inspires him. For myself, my spirit space is my hot tub where I can rest and relax in the evening whilst looking at the night sky and become connected to nature. I often find that some of my best creative ideas come when I spend time with my horses – sitting in the field my mind has the opportunity to be free from any constraints and I always find new ideas for my business surface pop up. What environments can you create for yourself that will impact your business success?.
Think about a chef. When they get in the kitchen, they mark out a “Dynamo” Space to “grow” (to keep things fresh), a “Blaze” Space to “glow” (the oven to cook in), a “Tempo” Space to “slow” (the chopping board and blender to separate and connect), a “Steel” Space to “know” (keeping things cool in the fridge and freezer), and the “Spirit” Space to “flow” (the serving space where it all comes together). Then with the ingredients, the recipe and their spaces, preparing the meal is all about right place, right time.
What are the productive environments that you can create to redesign the standards by which you place your mind, body, and spirit each day? What’s the pallet in which you’re creating your masterpiece? Even if you have a full-time job or have your hands full with children, there is always a way to reorganize your time and space to bring out your best self.
Remember there’s an order to everything, and organizing your time and your spaces allows you to move through the seasons with more ease and grace, the way nature meant it to be.
In nature, nothing is rushed, yet all is accomplished.
by Julia Felton | May 14, 2014
Running your own business involves a millions of details and moving parts. And if you’re relying on yourself to remember all of these, you WILL get burned out. Things WILL fall through the cracks and ultimately you will lose the trust of your customers. Not a great place to end up in an environment where prospects and customers are seeking you to be their trusted advisor.
This is why the creation of systems is vital for you if you are to create a Joined Up Business so you can become focused and productivity by saving yourself resources. You see systems are the lifeblood of your business – they are an integral part of the business DNA and yet many business take an ostrich approach to systems – preferring to stick their head in the sand rather than take action and get some simple systems set up,
A system is simply a series of steps for a particular task or project. The cool part? You shouldn’t be the one executing the system. Once you have systems documented, you can hand them off to key team members – this is how you begin to create a business that runs without you.
If you’ve never systematized anything in your business before, take heart – if you take the same steps to achieve particular tasks in your business more than once, you already have the makings of a system for that task.
The key is to hone, refine and ultimately delegate the RIGHT systems that are going to grow your business.
Which systems should you implement FIRST? Below are my top 7 systems that I use daily to run my business.
1. A system to attract new clients.
Your business growth depends on your ability to attract new, highly qualified, highly awesome ideal peeps into your world, month in and month out. (The easiest way to get started? A signature system, a signature talk, and local speaking gigs. Simple, streamlined and proven.)
2. A system to turn prospects into invested clients.
What happens when a potential new client contacts you or your team out of the blue? When you invest time, energy and attention to attract new clients, it only makes sense to have a system that kicks in to turn these prospects into invested new clients.
3. A system to follow up with prospects (after events, networking, or in-person meetings).
Nothing closes the “know-like-trust” gap faster than face-to-face connection, which means that every event you attend can mean thousands of dollars in business for you – if you follow up. Next time you find a stack of business cards in your purse, ask yourself, “How can I systematize follow-up within 48 hours of the event?”
4. A system for “keep in touch” (such as a newsletter).
There is no way that you can expect to fill your programs easily if you’re not doing SOME kind of outreach or follow-up. Whether it’s a newsletter, a video newsletter, an evergreen autoresponder, or a blog (used in conjunction with email), you’ve got to do something and do it consistently. Which means… you need a system. 🙂
5. A system to serve clients in your programs.
When a new client signs up, there’s excitement… and terror. She’s thinking a zillion things, not the least of which is, “Did I really make the right move, invetsing £5000 to this person?” Every program you offer needs to have a system behind it to give your clients a stellar experience: welcoming new clients, scheduling the calls, delivering the calls, recording calls, distributing the calls, communicating with your herd and whatever else you do to deliver the goods. Your clients DO notice these details, which, when done well, leads to better results and repeat business.
6. A system to manage your cash.
Your cash flow system should include “buckets” for incoming money (X for taxes, Y for expenses, Z for your salary, and so on). And always pay yourself, even if it’s just one dollar – the action matters more than the amount when you’re just getting started.
7. A system to generate referrals & testimonials.
The best clients come from your awesome current clients. Awesome current clients love to refer, so make it easy on them. (Which makes your business growth easy on you – win!)
The small amount of time you’ll invest in setting up your systems will pay you back exponentially in time and income over the long run, PLUS give all of your clients and potential clients the kind of high-value experience that truly sets you apart.
You can learn more about the 21 Ways I see most business owners losing cash and clients because they don’t have simple systems and processes in place by going to www.businesshorsepower.com and downing my free report
by Julia Felton | May 6, 2014
“There is nothing quite so useless, as doing with great efficiency, something that should not be done at all.” – Peter Drucker
The Pareto Principle – also known as the 80:20 rule – is applicable to any business and let time and time again I witness business owners failing to understand this and so wasting valuable time, energy and money on activities that are not adding to helping the business meet it’s goals. As my regular herd members know I am all about creating businesses that are more efficient and what I called Joined Up.
So what is the Pareto Principle? It holds that 80% of the consequences of any action come from 20% of the causes. This principle can actually be applied to everything you do. It is a powerful, fundamental principle of life – and of working smart.
The original 80:20 observation was as a result of Italian economist Pareto noticing in 1906 that 80% of Italy’s land was owned by 20% of the population. He then carried out surveys on a variety of other countries and found to his surprise that a similar distribution applied. He and others later discovered that this principle is proven in many other areas of interest:
- 80% of results come from 20% of effort;
- 20% of your customers will account for 80% of your profit.
Apply the 80:20 rule to the information you receive: 20% is useful, whereas 80% is not. The key is to identify and focus on that 20% and ignore or remove the rest completely.
The same is true of time expended for results achieved. Think of the benefits of applying the Pareto Principle to your time management and personal and business productivity!
Which one of these statements rings true for your business?
- 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers
- 20% of your product or service range contributes 80% of your profit
- 80% of customer complaints originate from 20% of the causes.
- 20% of your individual effort and time achieves 80% of the desired results
- 80% of your business productivity loss results from 20% of the causes
- 20% of your staff is responsible for 80% of the business outputs and results
- 80% of the value in the business is generated by 20% of the processes
The common approach to business is to squeeze every last drop out of each opportunity, to go ‘100% all-out’, without consideration of the impact on time, productivity and wastage. Simple, time-efficient businesses recognise that it is fundamentally inefficient to go for the ‘whole pie’ when you can get the majority of results for the minority of effort.
With knowledge of the 80:20 principle, you can concentrate on what wins you customers and success. Look at your business and concentrate on the 20% that produces the 80% of benefit. Spend 80% of your time doing the 20% that really gets you results. ‘You win some, you lose some’ is no way to run a successful business, but armed with knowledge of the Pareto Principle, you can work the system to your benefit.
It’s not just about working smarter – it’s about working smarter on the right things that will get you the best results. Think really boldly about this law – how far, and in how many ways you can apply it. The more incredible the results can be.
- Why spend 100% of your money and time on ‘growth at all costs’ when you could downsize, freeing up capital and time? Spend just 20% in developing the most profitable 80% of your current business, and invest the rest in other ventures?
- Why work full time, when you can work only 20% of the time on the things that get you 80% of your profits? And spend the rest of the time sipping a cold beer on the beach, watching the sun go down or if you are like me hanging out with my horses!
This year I am actively reviewing my business to see which activities I need to focus on most and which I can let slip by as the benefits of doing them are not worth the time and energy invested.
I encourage you to cast a critical eye over your business and examine what you need to do more of and what you need to stop doing. I’d love to hear what you discover about your business
How can you use this rule to revolutionise your business and your life? Take it to the limit!
by Julia Felton | Apr 28, 2014
The person on the phone wants to go over the contract she sent you. This is THE call you’ve been waiting for! However, looking at your cluttered desk and the bags full of paperwork waiting to be filed, you have no idea where the document might be.
You bluff your way out of the conversation (“Can I call you right back? I was on the other line when you called.”) and spend 30 minutes hunting for the paper. When you finally find it, you notice the stickie reminding you of action you were to have taken on the document last week. Yikes.
Now, where is her phone number? It’s on the back of this envelope, right? Maybe it was on the back of today’s lunch receipt…
Pretty scary! The wasted time and energy. The harsh self-criticism. The stress and embarrassment. The lost opportunities.
This office nightmare comes to life countless times every day by people who miss or ignore the direct connection between organization and success. It’s not just that organization allows you to move more easily around the office. Organizing your office and work life helps you fulfill your own potential and that of your company.
“Organizing is the process by which we create environments that enable us to live, work and relax exactly as we want to,” writes Julie Morgenstern, in her book, Organizing from the Inside Out. “When we are organized, our homes, offices and schedules reflect and encourage who we are, what we want and where we are going.”
For most people, the three biggest obstacles to an organized office and work life are: clutter (paper and email), planning and follow-through, the latter two being more an issue of time management. And while a disorganized office can be much like a disorganized schedule—overly packed, haphazard, limited in space or hours—it makes sense to organize space and paper first. Below are some tips for tackling office clutter.
If you’re starting from scratch—organizing the entire office and creating a new system—Morgenstern advises to first analyze the situation, taking an overall look at space, furnishings, equipment, supplies and types of paperwork. Ask yourself five questions:
1. What’s working? It’s helpful to know what’s not “broken” so that you don’t spend time fixing it. Also, a little “good news” is nice to hear.
2. What’s not working? Take a big picture approach here. It takes forever to get things done, because I can’t easily find what I need, so I work a lot of overtime.
3. What items are most essential to you? What do you need to have at hand? What papers represent the crux of your business?
4. Why do you want to get organized? These are the benefits you will derive from an organized office/desk. Less anxiety, more energy for work, more room for work.
5. What’s causing the problems? Some of the most common sources of office clutter: inconvenient or insufficient storage, no designated “home” for things, perception of not enough time to get or stay organized.
The next step is to strategize how to approach the things that are not working and their underlying problems. There are dozens of organization methods and systems; one might be just right for you, or you may be best served by mixing and matching ideas. In addition to Morgenstern’s, here are some books to consult for ideas:
The Well-Ordered Office: How to Create an Efficient and Serene Workspace, by Kathleen Kendall-Tacket
Organize Your Office! Simple Routines for Managing Your Workspace, by Ronni Eisenberg
The Office Clutter Cure: How to Get Out from Under It All, by Don Aslett
Organizing Your Work Space: A Guide to Personal Productivity, by Odette Pollar
File…Don’t Pile: A Proven Filing System for Personal and Professional Use, by Pat Dorff
Taming the Paper Tiger at Work, by Barbara Hemphill
For many, the biggest problem lies in maintaining an organization system. Stephanie Winston, author of Organized for Success, studied the habits of a cross-section of high-level executives across the United States, and recommends a relentless, laser-focused approach to processing paperwork—and even electronic communication—so that it doesn’t build up:
• Toss it. (Delete, if electronic.)
• Refer it. (Forward.)
• Act on it personally.
• File it. (Archive.)
To arrive at any kind of a sustaining system, Morgenstern writes, it’s important to understand and work with or around psychological obstacles to a clutter-free environment. These may include:
- Unclear goals and priorities. Organizing is about defining what’s important and setting up a system to reflect that.
- Fear of success/fear of failure. Disorganization may be a convenient way to hold back.
- Need to retreat. Clutter can be a protective shield to keep others at a safe distance.
- Fear of losing creativity. A common myth is that creative, “right-brained” people need to work in chaos to produce high-quality work. Balderdash!
- Need for distraction. Clutter can provide a convenient excuse to avoid uncomfortable issues or unwanted tasks.
- Need for perfection. Often, people won’t deal with clutter until it can be done perfectly. Translation: It will never get done.
Identifying these obstacles to an organized office and work life can go a long way toward creating an effective, lasting solution to clutter and disorganization. Along the way, you might just find yourself fulfilling your potential, too!
by Julia Felton | Apr 8, 2014
“Don’t mistake movement for achievement. It’s easy to get faked out by being busy.
The questions is: Busy doing what?” – Jim Rohn
Everyday I see entrepreneurs and business owners being busy and I often wonder if they are really being effective. You see being busy and being effective in business are not the same. It’s easy to be busy doing other peoples things or activities that are not driving you towards your dream and goals. As entrepreneurs it is also easy to get seduced by the “bright shining object syndrome” what I affectionately call Entrepreneurial ADD. This results in a lack of focus and engaging in tasks that don’t drive you towards where you want to go. Sure as an business owner you need to be open to all possibilities as opportunities can appear from the least expected places, but when you are not clear on what you want the right opportunities in my experience never show up, just distractions instead.
In his highly acclaimed book on effectiveness, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People“, Dr Steven Covey makes a clear distinction between what is urgent and what is important. Covey outlines a 4-box matrix with Urgent on one axis, and Importance on the other (see the image).
Most people who are feeling like busy fools are making one of two mistakes in respect of Covey’s matrix: they are putting all their effort into completing Urgent tasks, or they are failing to identify the Important ones. Urgent tasks are those that have a deadline approaching, while Important ones are those that get you where you want to go in the longer term.
Covey says we should be spending most of our time in quadrant two – “Urgent AND Important”. And he makes a very important point: if we are dealing with quadrant two items while they are not yet urgent, we should never have anything in quadrant one at all. And where we can get the time to work on quadrant two stuff, to stop it leaking up into quadrant one, is from quadrants three, and particularly quadrant four.
The trick, of course, is to understand whether the “importance” of a task, or a project, or a business, relates to *your* long-term objectives, or those of somebody else. So before you put something to the top of your priority list, make sure you are doing it for you.
Another important distinction to be made here is that as a business owner marketing and sales are always activities that should be in quadrant 2. If you are to avoid the roller coaster of cash flow that many business owners experience you need to ensure consistency in your sales and marketing activities so that you are always working on income generating activities. After all your business won’t survive if you don’t have any customers.
Avoiding being a busy fool means s focusing on these Important and Urgent tasks daily and engaging in income generating activities. Only then will you create a successful business that fuels your dreams and goals, and yet time and time again I witness business owners being busy by finding activities to do that stop them focusing on this quadrant. This is a classic case of procrastination, something we will look at in another article.
So for today, be clear on what you want to achieve and stay focused on this path. Stop being busy doing other peoples things or tasks that don’t lead to your success.
I’d love to hear about what you are focusing on today.
