Business Owners: How To Be 400 Percent More Effective

When business owners get stuck working ‘in’ the business, there are two things that business owners start to find challenging very quickly: thinking ahead and doing things in order of importance.

Losing control and not doing these two key activities make the difference between just surviving in business and owning a successful, profitable and predictable business that works harder than you do. And the same is true for many areas of our lives.

Leadership trainer and author John Maxwell says, “Thinking ahead and prioritising responsibilities marks the major differences between a leader and a follower.”

Most people have heard of the Pareto Principle, more commonly known as the 80/20 Principle, more accurately described as the ‘Law Of Disproportionate Results’. on most things when measured, is not exactly 80 percent and it’s not exactly 20 percent;but they are very typically skewed to those numbers.

So in business, as an example: roughly stated, this says that in most businesses 80 percent of your business comes from 20 percent of your customers, or 80 percent of your profit will come from 20percent  of your products, and 80 percent of your headaches will come from 20 percent of your customers, etc.

So… when it comes to your priorities, 20 percent  of your priorities will give you 80 percent of your productivity IF you spend your time, energy, money and personnel on the top 20 percent of your priorities.

When you do this you are getting a 400% or four-fold return in productivity. Stop for a moment and think what this would mean in your business!

Every business owner needs to understand the Pareto Principle, as it applies to the areas of customers, team and leadership.

In the area of customers, it is vital to identify the 20 percent who account for 80 percent of your business. These are your “raving fans” and strategies must be put in place to care for them appropriately.

For your team, you must identify the top 20% producers. Spend 80% of your people-time with these people to develop them to their full potential.

Sometimes I jokingly say, that business owners are masters at finding the 80% of tasks to do which gives them only 20% of the result, thereby owning a ‘busy-ness’ rather than a business.

If you are serious about achieving more productivity in your business, then take an honest look at the question – “What do I have to do that no one else can do?” Remember a leader can give up everything, except final responsibility.

You can decide whether you will be reactive or proactive when it comes to the use of your time. The question is not, “Will I be busy?” but instead, “How will I invest my time?”. It’s not “Will my calendar be full?” but rather, “Who will fill my calendar?”. It’s not “Will I see people?,” but, “Who will I see?”

Do this and watch your productivity and personal satisfaction rise to new heights!

If you would like to learn more about how Business Growth Leaders could maximise the performance of yourself and your business contact our team for more information and help. Or book directly into a strategy session where we will show you how to double your profit and halve your working hours in a quick 10 minute call.