Episode 109 – You're Wasting Your Time Doing These 5 Things

Here's a GUARANTEE: You're wasting your time doing either one of these 5 things, or every close it. You don't realize how much of your time is being wasted. As a business owner, your time is the most valuable thing in the company. How you use this time absolutely affects your business growth and how much money you will make. You set on a journey to live a dream, don't waste time getting there. Let's go through some wasters and winners! Solving a Problem using Google Waster: Youtube, searching, forums and Facebook to try and resolve a machine issue. Winner: Contact support FIRST. You may find your answer online, you also might not and make things worse. Waster: Searching all over for 'how to do XYZ in photoshop Winner: If an art project is out of your reach, pay to get it done right. Waster: Filing business / tax paperwork when you have no clue what to do Winner: Get a CPA or use an online service. Its not too much money and it will be done RIGHT. Catering to needy clients Waster: Being at the beck and call of needy clients The 80/20 rule is true - 80% of your actual sales come from about 20% of your customers - and they're NOT needy Winner: Help them understand your time is valuable too. e.g. "I have a meeting at 1 pm, I will address your issue after" Waster: Dropping everything to fix a problem Winner: How urgent is it? Does it matter if you wait an hour, till after lunch, or tomorrow? TIP: Read the 4 Hour Work Week Your BAD at Something. But you do it Anyway Waster: You cannot digitize well. So you try, sew out, try sew out, try sew out Winner: Hire a digitizing company to get it done right. If you want to learn to digitize do it outside of business time. like 'nightschool' Waster: You are an introvert and generally unlikeable... then you try to handle customer service Winner: Hire someone to help you out. Talk to customers, handle problems etc. Waster: You get a scary legal letter, then try to look up the laws. (or ask on facebook) Winner: Send it to your attorney who will know exactly what to do. Another book: EMyth by Michael Gerber You Can't Find Anything Waster: Piles of boxes of shirts. Finding a "small" takes 5 minutes Winner: Get creative with storage. Shelves, racks etc. You can even find used stuff like this on facebook or ebay. Waster: No CRM, No Customer database. You will find yourself searching through emails and texts to find what you quoted someone Winner: Use a CRM or other database to keep track of customers info and details. Waster: No process from orders in to orders out. Winner: Have an exact thought out process for your orders. This should include not only the method but the set up of your space. Penny Pinching Waster: Jamming vinyl designs or transfer designs so close, it takes 5 minutes just to cut them out. Winner: Don't worry about saving $0.50 in materials. If you get the job done faster that means you can do more to make $$. Waster: Always price shopping supplies that cost almost nothing. e.g. thread Winner: Buy from somewhere you trust and is consistent. Your inventory and results are easier to manage. Waster: Trying to save money with lower quality materials. Winner: Use quality supplies and apparel. Your customers will like it, they work better and overall you win. You've got the opportunity to achieve and exceed your dreams in front of you. Don't waste time getting caught up in the details of things that won't help you achieve your dream. Litmus Test: Whenever you are doing something that takes a long time. Ask yourself. "Is this task going to help me achieve my goals?" - if it's not, don't do it!