Growing your own business isn’t rocket science but it takes honesty and practice. It’s not always comfortable seeing the truth. Nor is it necessarily fun being accountable all the time. As my mother used to say,
“You can’t always wear a comfortable bra, so you might as well get used to it. You’ll love what it does for you.”
When I first started my coaching business I had a lot to learn. I had to figure out how to grow my own business and do sales for myself. Selling my own business was a whole different animal from corporate sales.
In the beginning, I had to learn to manage my time.
I was always busy, but my revenue didn’t grow. I asked my coach for help. She taught me how to track exactly what I was doing when, each and every week. She recommended I divide my time this way:
- 50% - 60% Revenue producing or sales activities
- 30% - 40% Marketing and administrative activities
- 10% - Visioning and self-development
But it took time and a bit of humility.
I was committed to a 40 – 50 hour workweek but only spent six hours max doing sales or revenue producing work. I honestly didn’t know what I was doing with the rest of my time. This was eye opening, and humbling.
I also had to clarify my revenue generating activities.
For my coaching practice I identified revenue-generating activities in the following way:
- One-to-one meetings with prospective clients and referral partners
- Networking at group functions
- Writing proposals
- Working with clients
- Public speaking
And the system works, to this day.
Here’s what I do:
- I track my time in my calendar and color code each category.
- At the end of the week, I count the hours in each activity category.
- If low in any of the activities, I open my email system or pick up the phone and start calling people to set up revenue specific activities and make time for marketing activities.
- I try to keep admin to a minimum and hire out when I can, giving me more revenue producing time.
It’s not rocket science; it’s a lot like Aikido.
This is a lot like my Aikido practice: If I keep showing up and I consistently do the practice, I continue to learn and grow.
It’s not rocket science but it’s not always comfortable seeing the truth.
My business has grown a thousand fold.
Being truthful and accountable has helped me grow my business by a factor of a 1000. For this I am so grateful. And this is why I am so passionate about wanting to share what I have learned with others so they can share their gifts and make a difference in others lives.
If you want to truly understand how you’re spending your time, please connect with me for a complimentary consultation. My email is anna@annascott.co, telephone: 510-919-2254.