One. More. Thing.
Breathe in.
The day begins. Caffeine, hygiene and routine consume your first hour. How many left?
Breathe out.
Emails to warm up to the work day take longer than expected. It’s almost time for lunch. Skip it…again?
Breathe in.
Phone calls, invoices, ordering and details. The message from this morning is still waiting for a response.
Breathe out.
Do you eat dinner in front of the computer today?
Breathe in.
Why did you get into this business? You are among those who have seized life by the reins and decided that destiny is what you make it. You know the value of your work from the first collaboration of the day down to the last-minute email you scan right before bed. Days are long, and they all count. Growing pains aren’t new to you, but eventually boundaries get pushed beyond what you’d ever imagined.
Hard work is only as precious as the time it gives us for what matters, in the end, and when you’re running things yourself, every minute has a dollar value. If you were being paid by the hour, what would you earn? When it’s your business, you don’t get overtime. You pound that pavement and get the work done or you don’t profit, but what good is a profit you can’t enjoy?
By now, you’ve learned how to prioritize. It took trial and error, perhaps a few sleepless nights and sore joints, but you’ve earned your success and the progress that comes with it. Time management means more money for the hours you put in, and at a certain point putting stickers on box after box starts to make those hours cost more than they return. An extra five minutes becomes fifteen. That turns into an hour. Next thing you know, you’ve missed another family dinner, all for…more boxes.
“Don’t you see? If your business depends on you, you don’t own a business – you have a job. And it’s the worst job in the world because you’re working for a lunatic! And besides, that’s not the purpose of going into business. The purpose of going into business is to get free of a job so you can create jobs for other people.”MICHAEL E GERBERETHE E-MYTH REVISITED: WHY MOST BUSINESSES DON’T WORK AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.
Delegation isn’t a dirty word; it’s a lifesaver.
So how do you start delegating? It’s not always feasible to just hire one more person. But there are ways to scale. Here are a few:
- Fulfillment – It might seem like an easy choice, but it can be hard to give up a few dollars per box. However, a fulfillment company gives you back more than your dining room table. They have efficient processes in place to ensure quick packing, consistent quality and in many cases, can even save you money on postage and labor.
- Customer Service – Outsourced customer service has come a long way. Let technology help you extend your reach with virtual assistants, answering services, outsourced chat or customer services.
- Non-traditional employees – college interns, retirees and stay-at-home-parents can all be great sources of part-time or temporary employees to help you scale up. Just beware of training costs and learning objectives of these employees for the cost of time spent onboarding.
- Accounting and bookkeeping – A lot of accounting firms offer cost effective bookkeeping solutions to take the bill paying chores off your desk. Banking technology has evolved to included systems and controls so you don’t have to give up your checking account to give up the paperwork.
- Custom-printed boxes – no surprise here – we’re fans. But how does a box fit in? No more box in a box. No stickers. No overwraps. A simple custom printed box can eliminate a lot of those hurdles and steps to the packing process. If you use fulfillment, and they charge by the piece, printed instructions or value-added content on the inside can eliminate yet another fee.
Bottom line: there’s always one more thing. We want you to make a living and wring every drop of life from it you can. We want you to keep reaching for that next goal, whatever it takes. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and those muscles you’ve built need oxygen. Breathe deep, and strive forward with a purpose. What better purpose is there than a life well-lived?
Breathe out.
You’ve got this.