As this year winds down, we’re feeling a bit contemplative … thinking about the ups and downs of 2014, and planning for more of the ‘ups’ in 2015. It’s been a good year for us. How about for you?
We’ve been on the road now for nearly 1-1/2 years and our business and lives continue to evolve. We’ve learned to squeeze a little play into just about every workday. In central Florida, that means the workday is usually broken up by a mid-afternoon swim with friends. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t hard to get back to work afterwards! But we remind ourselves that both the fun and the work are activities worthy of our attention, and it doesn’t hurt that the work is actually something we really enjoy doing.
So in the spirit of the season, I ask you:
Are you doing work worth doing, or are you just doing your job?
As a business owner, I want to know that what I’m doing matters – that it helps somebody, hopefully lots of somebodies. Collecting a paycheck is easy compared to running a business.
Time doesn’t stand still for any of us. Whether you’re working 20 or 50+ hours each week, we all have a limited number of hours to get the whole job done. That means the customer work, the bookkeeping, the marketing, planning for the future – the entirety of your business. And how does your business fit in with the entirety of your life?
Is the time you invest in your business, time well-spent? What about today? Will today’s activities move you toward achieving your business goals, or are you running a parallel course – as in, you can’t get there from here?
The Pareto principle states that 80% of effects stem from 20% of causes. For most small businesses this means that 20% of our clients provide 80% of our income, 20% of our advertising produces 80% of the results, and say it isn’t so … only 20% of our time is truly well-spent!
Where’s your 20%?