Everybody’s got an hourly rate.

Here’s a quick exercise for you.

Divide the profit that your business made last year by the number of hours you worked.

 

So – as an example – if you worked 50 hours a week, for 48 weeks of the year, that’s 2,400 hours.

If your business made £120k profit – £120k divided by 2,400 is £50 / hour.

If your business made £240k profit – £240k divided by 2,400 is £100 / hour.

 

The point I’m getting to here is that, as the Business Owner, your time is precious and you should only be doing the things that only you can do. 

 

If there’s someone else within your business that can do the things that you’re currently doing, but at a lower hourly rate, then they should be doing it – not you.

This is one of the most effective ways of scaling a business quickly.

Delegating the tasks that are essentially below your pay-grade frees up the time for you to do the things that can drive your business forward, and quickly.

 

I coached a client of mine on this just this week – he said that he gets the majority of things that moves his business forward done between 7am and 9am every morning, where he’s able to focus on the aspects of his business that only he can do, without distraction or interference.

And he’s starting to realise that it’s these tasks that are enabling his business to grow.

It’s easy to get distracted, or to do something yourself because it’s easier than showing someone else how to do it.

Because you started life as the technician in your business doing all the jobs, it might not take much for you to get sucked back into the ‘thick of it; and find yourself spending several hours doing routine £15 per hour tasks.

These might even be tasks that you secretly enjoy! 

We’ve all been there…and sometimes it’s essential.

But if your hourly rate is £100, you’ve only got a limited number of hours in your day – and if you’re spending those hours doing £15 an hour tasks… you see how this works?

Saving a wage is costing you a fortune! Not only are you costing your business doing basic, routine tasks, you’re not doing the highest value tasks that nobody else can do – strategy, planning, business generation, hiring ‘A’ players, team development, etc.

So leverage your time and systemise-train-delegate to one of your team or even to freelance or outsourced help.

Focus on the things within your business that only you can do – and that’s where the rubber hits the road.

I’ve got a detailed toolkit on this subject that I’d love to share with you, for free, on a one-hour video call. With no obligation to use my services beyond that point.

 

What have you got to lose? 

It might be the most valuable hour of your time you spend this year 😊

 

You can book that slot directly into my diary using this link.

This was blog two in a series of four – look out for my next blog in a few days as I’ll be focusing on cash flow…

 

While you’re here:

  1. Here’s a book that I’d recommend in relation to the above – One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey by Kenneth H Blanchard
  2. Our next Growth Club event takes place on Friday 5th April – these are inspirational days and your opportunity to take a day out of the office to learn, plan and network with over fifty other business owners. Find out more about the event here
  3. I helped Joseph Thompson, CEO of Richard Thompson Insurance Brokers (RTIB) restructure and reshape, and go for growth again, after his business had stagnated and faced a number of challenges, including COVID. Read more about how he did this in this short case study and video [takes 4 minutes to watch]