Business Owners- What do You Own?
How long is your working week? When was your last break? Do
your staff make more than you? Now ask yourself, "What Do I
Own- a Business or a Job- with Overheads?"  If your answers
were: "too long, I can't remember, yes and a job", read on.
 
In my experience, too many owners, after investing their
time and money, have not got a fair return from their
business. Sure they are making ends meet (well some are).
But are they getting what they deserve for the effort they
make? Think about it this way. Take the money you have put
into your business, and take the time you have put in as
well. If you had invested those funds wisely, and got a
nine-to-five job, would you be better or worse off? And
what about the hassle factor?
 
So what should be a reasonable return on your business?
After you pay yourself a wage, you should be making at
least 25% of your investment in your business. Another way
of saying this is that if you were to sell your business
today, you should get at least 4 times its annual profit.
But too often, the business owner is the business, and if
they were to leave it for even a short time, there would be
a sharp fall in profitability. And no-one is going to buy a
personal business.
 
If you are in this situation, here are some steps you can
take to increase your business efficiency and make your
business operate without you:
 
-Firstly recognise that if you change nothing- nothing will
change.
 
-Make a commitment to yourself that you will act now to
make a difference to your business and your life
 
-Start to separate yourself from your business
 
-Set goals for your business, create a business plan
 
-Set in place a regular formal review of your progress
against your goals.
 
-Map your workflow process and seek opportunities to make
it more efficient
 
-Re-organise your business to reflect your processes
 
-Look for ways to outsource parts of your business
 
-Manage your business by reports
 
And last of all- don't try to do it all by yourself!
Everyone who has achieved success in their business or
their life will freely admit that somewhere along the line
they have received assistance from somebody else. It may
have been from a relative, a friend, a colleague, a mentor
or, dare I suggest, a business coach.
 
These steps are about creating a Business System. By
systematising your business, you make your business more
efficient, reduce your costs, and ultimately, make your
business run without you. Even if you are a one-man-band,
there is still a lot you can do to separate yourself from
your business, by creating passive income streams, and
leveraging your knowledge.
 
Business Owners who own a job, already know they do. (Don't
you!) They know they spend all their time working in their
business, not on their business. And their reason for not
doing anything about this, is that they say they are too
busy. However, if they saw an opportunity to double their
income, they would find the time! So it is actually about
whether the rewards that come from their business running
on auto-pilot are sufficiently attractive to them to find
the time. If they still can't find the time they should
never again complain about their business running their
lives, as it is clearly not that important!
 
 
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Dr Greg Chapman provides information and support to small
business owners through the Australian Business Coaching
Club. Visit the Club at
Australian Small Business Blog at
information.
 
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