Three Things You Have To Let Go Of Before They Kill You

Are you an entrepreneur like me? You need to sit up and take note if this.

Your schedule is probably jam-packed, but stop for a minute, breathe, look up at the sky (or the ceiling) and thank heavens you don’t work in a corporate hell hole (put down your CV, there’s no turning back now!).

Now tell me honestly… Are you still doing everything yourself?

I know you’re the best at what you do; I know that nobody does it quite as well as you; and I know that you just can’t afford to hire someone right now. I’ve used the same excuses myself.

But can you afford to not grow?

What if I told you that the only thing limiting your company’s growth is you? I’ve asked you before whether you are undermining your own business and whether you have Entrepreneur’s Disease, and now I’d like to share with you my latest thoughts on letting go.

 

Here are the top areas you need to let go of and outsource before they kill you:

 

1. Accounting

I used to do everything myself. Has anyone out there ever created a statement for a client using Excel? There should be an award for that kind of pain, and stupidity!

This year I appointed an accountant, Paula Killin from PK Accounting and, honestly, it’s one of the reasons we’ve grown so dramatically this year. BECAUSE NOW I HAVE TIME TO SELL (apologies for shouting) instead of spending hours working in Excel.

She handles all my invoicing and salaries. She works out ways for my business to run smoother, like using Xero accounting software. She has also improved my quoting and invoicing systems and processes dramatically.

I’ve even gone paperless with my slips! Love it!

Now we are geared for growth!

 

2. Marketing

Now, I know you think I’m only mentioning this because I want you to use us, and that may be partly true…

But seriously, it’s only because you need to be focussed on chasing the big money, and not working out how to set up a Google Adwords campaign. We can do that for you, along with a host of other marketing strategies. What we can’t do is meet with resellers who are going to sell lots of your products for you. That’s your job.

We have some really clever clients who have spent hundreds of hours teaching themselves digital marketing. Although this is an impressive feat, these clients should rather have spent that time growing their businesses, making sales and meeting customers.

But what’s more impressive, is that they picked up the phone, called us, and asked us to take over, because they are ready to grow.

Now we send them a constant flow of customer inquiries for them to contact.

 

3. Admin

It’s time to get organised. Put some processes into place so that you don’t spend hours filling in those pesky Excel spreadsheets.

QuickEasy Business Operating Software takes days out of your admin, plus it gives you insight into your business, projects and income, for the price of a couple of cappuccinos per month. Turn a quote into an order, turn an order into an invoice, track work-in-progress, integrate your accounts and BOOM, total transparency, total control, more free time, less staff (shhhh).

Asana is a brilliant project management platform, and it’s free for under 12 staff members. Check out this awesome tool and get organised.

If you don’t get organised, you won’t be able to cope with growth and a simple influx of business could put you under. No business at all will also put you under, so get some marketing happening to generate lots of new customers.

Get an accountant to put financial systems in place to chase all your outstanding payments from your new clients, and use business operating software and project management software to cope with all the new business.

I hope these tips will help you get sorted before the end of the year.

See you in the trenches!