Time, is our most precious resource. How are we to make the
most effective use of each twenty-four hour span? Most
people give little thought to the actual value of their
time, possibly not even during conventional working hours.
Entrepreneurs know better. We cannot afford to haphazardly
approach the workday. We must have a plan and execute it to
the best of our ability, leveraging time to our greatest
benefit.
Dave Navarro at Jonathan Phillips' Freelance Folder
proposes a thought-provoking method of accurately valuing
our time.
"Your time is worth exactly this much:
Cash Money / Hours Worked = Your Rockin' $DPH (Dollars Per
Hour)
Now, in the last 30 days, how much did you earn? Stop
reading, and think about this seriously. Don't read any
further until you do. How much cash crossed your hands (or
how many orders came in) in the last month? Stop and think
about it.
Now that you have that number firmly in mind, it's time to
get brutally honest. How many hours did you spend in the
last 30 days doing business tasks or business-ish tasks?
Translation: Business tasks = stuff that actually drove
your business forward Business-ish tasks = pointless stuff
you did when you were supposed to be doing stuff to drive
your business forward.
That's right … those business-ish activities robbed you of
the revenue generating goodness that you know and love. But
you still gotta include them in the equation. And they
bring that $DPH down, down, down."
Most self-employed people are acutely aware that their time
investment must produce immediate income. Most generate
income in proportion to the amount of hours spent working
each day. Many other entrepreneurs however, are in the
position of remaining gainfully employed as they pursue
their entrepreneurial dreams part-time. This strategy is
often a wise one, born of necessity, in the absence of
venture capitol investors. It provides that safety-net of
income and benefits for our family while we tend to our
dream.
If we calculate the incoming-producing value of our time at
$120 per hour, we must also further understand that idle,
non-productive time is then costing us $120 per hour. This
is opportunity cost. While not immediately recognizable,
this cost can cripple a fledgling business if not properly
managed.
All activity, however relevant to the business, does not
directly produce income, yet remains important to the
overall business operation. Such activities are best
completed during non-prime-time hours, where selling and
revenue generation must remain the priority otherwise.
Designing advertisements, marketing materials and selling
strategies, bookkeeping and other administrative functions
fall within this category of necessary activities. It may
make sense to consider outsourcing many of these tasks to
others who will charge far less than $120 per hour for
their services, yet deliver a top-notch solution for your
needs, thus freeing you to generate more revenue with your
precious, limited selling time.
There are many occasions where a personal phone call, sales
call or a group sales presentation are necessary. For
effective sales results under those circumstances, our
conventional, personal efforts must focus on our best sales
prospects during the most productive, prime part of the
day. For most businesses, this the 8:00am until 6:00pm time
slot. Our automated sales systems however, such as our web
site, blog, advertising and various marketing channels are
available 24/7/365 to a world-wide audience of prospective
buyers. These systems often provide us many warm prospects
for dealing with during prime time. Learn how to let your
assets work for you.
Keeping tabs on your most productive selling hours,
managing your time and other assets to your maximum
advantage while minimizing idle, non-productive time is the
formula for a successful business. Try watching less TV and
invest that time in your business. Be certain to eat well,
drink plenty of water, sleep well, scheduling both downtime
and family time.
Become well-rounded in order to renew your energy each day;
energy sufficient to fuel your income-producing hours. Your
goal should be to have all of your assets consistently
working at maximum levels for your benefit.
----------------------------------------------------
Daniel Sitter, author of both the popular book, Learning
For Profit, and the highly anticipated book, Superior
Selling Skills Mastery, has extensive experience in sales,
training, marketing and personal development spanning a
successful 25 year career. http://www.learningforprofit.com
Experience his blog at http://www.idea-sellers.com
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