Weiss Advice Issue: 172, January, 2017
My suggestions for your serious consideration in this new year:
- Stop worrying about saving pennies and focus on making dollars.
- Review every existing client and ask what additional value you can provide to generate incremental business.
- Call one person (at least) five days a week and ask for two names of prospective clients.
- Revisit all past clients (no business within the past year) and introduce new value to revive business.
- Schedule two networking events per month.
- Schedule three events during they year at which you can mix your best clients, second-best clients, and prospects.
- Limit yourself to no more than two hours a week on “administrative” work. Stop worrying about additional computer backups or software upgrades that provide no real value.
- Examine your business model and reduce your labour by at least 20%.
- Outsource “busy work”: You shouldn’t be doing your own books, your own taxes, your own payroll, your own printing, etc.
- Determine if your financial and legal support is appropriate for your growing business, or is just a habit from an earlier time, no longer suited for you.
- Create a plan to maximize retirement and tax-sheltered income and investments.
- Reduce your indebtedness (with the exception of mortgage and car payments) to zero by year-end.
- Plan quality, discretionary, personal time weekly that you do not allow to be used for client work, in addition to working around time set for three vacations.
- Identify a coach who can help you get through your roadblocks, see what you don’t see, and overcome self-limiting beliefs.
- Enjoy yourself thoroughly without feeling guilty in the least.