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Business > Entrepreneurialism > Are You Caught In The Time Trap?
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Article rating : 0.00, 0 votes. Author : Bernadette Doyle
Do you ever feel that there just aren't enough hours in the day? Are you frustrated because you are full of great ideas to grow your business that you just don't have time to implement? Do you feel that you're putting in long hours, yet still not getting the money or quality of life that you hoped your business would bring you?
You're not alone. You're simply caught in a position that most business owners find themselves in before too long. I call it the 'time-trap'.
You simply have too many hats to wear. Not only are you responsible for marketing and selling, you're the person who has to provide the service to the clients too. The trouble with being caught in the 'time-trap' is that on the face of it, it seems like there is no way out. You've got to do what it takes to bring in business, and unless you deliver the service to the customer, you don't get paid. So you find yourself on the hamster wheel, just running faster and faster to simply keep up.
I've got some good news for you.
It doesn't have to be this way.
There is a way to break free of the time-trap. I'm telling you this as someone who not too long ago was caught up in the same time-trap and found a way to break free. Today I want to share with you two key concepts that can help you break free of the time trap.
1. Productise Your Service Business
If your primary means of generating revenue for your business is based upon you selling your time, then you're in trouble. If you are a consultant, trainer, coach or therapist. for most of you, the revenue model goes something like this: you provide a service for an hour or for a day or for a week or whatever and you get paid in exchange. So basically you're selling your time to make income.
The trouble with this revenue model is that it makes you highly vulnerable. You're essentially manual labour. Even if you're commanding fees of thousands a day, if you get sick, or take time off, the revenue disappears.
So you need to find a way to 'leverage' your time so that instead of 'do the work, get paid.' You 'do the work, get paid, paid, paid, paid, paid, paid, paid.'
How could you help your clients WITHOUT always having to sell your time on a one to one basis? This is the question you need to ask yourself - and KEEP asking. Don't give up if you don't have an immediate answer to this. The first time I was asked this question, I didn't have an immediate answer either. But that wasn't
because the answer wasn't there.
It was because I was so locked into my old way of thinking that the answer was not readily apparent. Since then I've implemented solutions that enable me to work with groups rather than just one-to-one, and package the processes I 'thought' I could only share in person into stand alone products. I'm convinced that you can do the same, as long as you open your mind to the possibilities.
2. Fire Yourself From Your Sales Team
What's the process for a prospect becoming a paying client in your business? How much of your personal time goes into landing the sale? The greater the dependency on YOU, the weaker your business is, because there are only so many hours in the day, and before too long you'll become the bottleneck. This is exactly the reason why so many service professionals complain about 'feast or famine' peaks and troughs - when you're working with existing clients, there isn't the time for marketing and selling to new ones.
The answer to this is to automate as much as your marketing and selling process as possible - and that's probably a lot more than you think. The first time I was introduced to this idea, my immediate reaction was 'that's not possible in my business. People are buying me, so they will want to speak with me before they can make their buying decision.' I was wrong.
It didn't happen overnight, but I HAVE successfully implemented systems that enable me to market and sell WITHOUT ongoing input of my personal time, and in the rare instances where I DO need to speak to a prospective client, they are already pre-qualified and pre-disposed to work with me. You can do this too, and the first step is for you to open your mind to the possibilities, and let go of the belief that you have to be personally involved in every single sale. That belief is keeping you caught in the time-trap.
While there are no miracle cures or quick and easy fixes for breaking free of the 'time-trap', you CAN do it when you find a way to apply these two concepts to your business. In the space available in this article, I hope I have planted the seeds, and if you want more concrete examples to inspire you, then make sure you download my FREE MASTERCLASSES 'How to Launch Your Information Empire'.
(c) Bernadette Doyle, 2008. Reprints welcome so long as by-line and article are published intact and all links made live.
Bernadette Doyle publishes her weekly Client Magnets newsletter for trainers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. Download her FREE MASTERCLASSES on 'How to Launch Your Information Empire' from 0.
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