Today I am going to share with you something that could very well double the bottom line of your business that has nothing to do with sales or marketing strategy.
It was 2018 and I will fully admit I was running on empty — burning the candle on both ends with client deliverables and as fractional COO to two businesses.
It was nearing the end of the month when I suddenly realized that I had neglected working on my business for nearly the whole month and we were looking at a down month following if I didn’t switch gears, and fast.
The problem was when I looked at my calendar for the rest of the month it was stacked. I was solidly stuck working in my business instead of on and I didn’t know where to find the time.
Have you ever been there? On the verge of burnout with literally no white space in your calendar to actually move YOUR business forward?
So I did what any normal business owner would do, I had a mini pity party and took a shower to try and get myself out of this “how hell hole.”
Now, I am not sure about you but the shower seems to be THE place where all my ideas come to me and this was no exception.
It struck me like a bolt of lightning! ADMIN DAYS!
Now for those of you that don’t know my background, I used to be in the medical field, pediatric neurology epilepsy research more specifically, and something that we had built into our week was Admin Hours: this was the time to fill in charts, fill out prescriptions, and just get admin stuff done outside of the exam room. So I thought, why not take a page out of my former life and apply this to my business?!
Well. Let. Me. Tell. You.
This simple idea quite literally doubled my business bottom line within a month after I implemented it; it truly unlocked my weeks and my business!
It goes like this….
You find a day (yes, really a whole day – and if that makes you want to vomit start with ½ day and work your way up) where you block out your entire calendar from anything that isn’t going to move your business forward. This means no team meetings or “hey, do you have a sec to talk about xyz?” Be ruthless. Turn off the dings. Shut the physical or metaphorical door and dive in.
For me, I found Wednesdays to be the perfect admin day for me. I know others have chosen Fridays.
The point is pick a day, stick with it for 30 days and commit to blocking out the time. If the day doesn’t flow after 4 weeks of blocking, choose another, after all you are the boss!
This is a day that is free from all the day to day meetings that we get sucked into where we can do the deep, focused work ON our business instead of being IN the trenches.
My admin days look like this: having strategic partnership calls (go where the rivers are), being a guest on someone else’s program or podcast, giving a talk or workshop to a group of business owners like EO or Vistage, doing follow ups or new connection reach outs — and sometimes it is just blocking the time to get something off the docket that has been gathering dust.
The common thread here is simple.
I only focus on projects that impact the bottom line and are directly related to my business.
As a service based business myself – and working primarily with service based business clients – I know how easily we can get sucked into working only on our clients stuff that we forget to pay attention to our own business.
Well, my friend, this solves that problem and creates the space to really focus on the sustainability and health of your business too.
I will say of all the tweaks I advise my clients on, this one is the crowd favorite with not only the biggest ROTI but the biggest feel good component too.
There is just something about being able to see the progress you are making that gives us business owners a little extra juice to keep on keeping on.
So give it a go. Pick a day, commit to the space and time, and let me know how it goes.
Better yet, come back and tell me how much your bottom line has grown in just 30 days!
Remember, friends don’t let friends WebMD their businesses.
Until next time.
