When Do You Work ON Your Business?
Details matter. Each small thing may not make or break a product or service, but taken together they can add up to a measurable improvement in quality. While focusing on the details is great, sometimes obsessing about the details means we lose sight of the overall picture. We’re so busy focusing on working IN our business that we forget to work ON our business.
When you’re working IN your business, you’re paying attention to those aforementioned details. You’re in the moment, responding to the needs of your business. You’re solving problems, giving encouragement, speaking with current clients and with potential clients. You’re writing proposals, preparing presentations or client demos. Sometimes it’s going better than you even imagined. Other times you’re doing your best impersonation of Smokey Bear and trying to stamp out as many fires as you can.
Changing your perspective
Working ON your business is a little different. It’s the ‘big picture’ stuff that often gets shoved by the wayside in the daily rush. It’s the strategic planning you do, the looking at emerging market and industry trends.
Where will you be in five years or even next year?
Where do you want to be?
What will you need to take advantage of growth opportunities?
Should you hire more staff or invest in a new product line?
Perhaps you’ll need to enter a new market segment to stay competitive. Do you have what you need to accommodate all these big dreams? What hurdles stand in your way?
Questions like these are critical, and if you’re going to stay in business, you’ll need to come up with good answers.
No time, you say?
The bigger question when it comes to working ON your business, is when you’re going to find the time. Right now your plate is so full you feel like you’re a diner at a buffet table. The simple answer is that you make the time, because it’s important.
- Set aside time each week to go over your business plan.
- Lock yourself in your office if you have to.
- Put a big sign on the door that says ‘Do not Disturb.’
- Turn off your phone.
- Ignore your emails and whatever else you do, resist the urge to go anywhere near your social media feeds.
- If your office has a shared scheduling app or even an old-fashioned calendar, make sure this crucial time is blocked off.
Some business owners have been forced to get creative when it comes to blocking off this time. Maybe you go for a walk in the park or do it when you’re sitting in the coffee shop waiting on that extra-foam latte. Find a way that works for you. Just remember that this time should be reserved exclusively for strategic planning.
It’s not a time to multi-task.
Make the time to work ON your business. As your company grows, you’ll find it is time well spent, even if it was in the laundromat waiting for that comforter to finally dry.