How fast you get things done is possibly the single largest determinant of ultimate success in Business.
I not only now have 24 years of business experience under my belt, but I have also been advising Business Owners for 24 years. So you think I would have learned this lesson sooner… but the truth is, it is a lesson I am learning every day and the more I master the lesson, the better things get.
My message is pretty clear… Stop screwing around and…
1. Create Systems for Everything
You can never really have a business if most of what you are doing is bespoke. Yes, I get it, I have been in the business of service all my life and every client is different and needs love and attention in a different way. Yet, there are only so many patterns… figure them out and build systems around those patterns.
2. Hire Loop Closers
Honestly, most Business Owners are not the right people to be making point 1 happen. Hire someone who is good at closing loops and chasing up on outstanding items. You want someone who has no ‘social fear’ that is to say they are going to be great at nagging the proverbial out of you and anyone else in your team.
In my experience this is about personality rather than qualifications. Often when we are working to help a Service Business create breakthroughs we will help them achieve this by finding young people that fit this criteria set, often at starting salaries and sometimes as unpaid interns.
3. Get Help
The best firms always pay for good Advice, but even in this… be fast. It takes trial and error to find the right support crew. I have hired many business coaches and consultants over the years, some lasted a month and some a decade or more. Find them, make a decision, invest a little and if they are not right fire them and try again.
The truth is that it’s pretty hard to be your own coach and if you are in the business of advising others and you don’t have advisers, then you are falling into one of the greatest self delusion traps ever.
4. Stop Overthinking
This is the BIG ONE, you cannot afford to be spending your time as a Business Owner overthinking everything.
Perfection is your enemy; iteration is your friend. A colleague of mine Matthew Burgess from View Legal says ‘If you are not ashamed of your product when you launch it, then you have put too much time into it’.
The only way to test anything is to test it. Your best guess is good enough, so take small leaps and plan to fail a little in everything. This is what the great entrepreneurs do, it allows them to bypass fear and to get stuff done.
Now get out there and make things happen. Focus, act, and don’t get caught in the over thinking loop.
Baz
If you are stuck and need clarity, then get help, because you don’t have time to be in that place.
I am building a community of Advice & Service Firm Owners who are committed to accelerating every element of their businesses and to building their profiles through authentic leadership, innovation, and mutual support.
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