One of the biggest frustrations for entrepreneurs or any business leader is having to put out fires at work.
Being a business firefighter takes away from time spent on improvement and growth of your business. It is a large expense not just in time but money. No entrepreneur can afford time spent on fires and grow to their highest potential.
There will always be fires to put out. Understanding and building a system that works for your business can be difficult, but is a necessary part of making it work. You must be willing to go through the ups and downs that occurs when first putting systems in place.
The following are just some of the areas that will help:
Delegation
Delegation is very hard for most entrepreneurs because they feel that no one can understand what they want, or do things as well as you can. The problem here is that you spread yourself so thin and can be so overwhelmed that you will not be on top of your game. This could be disastrous for any business. It will bring you more stress, anxiety and feelings of uncertainty. Micromanaging is a problem that many business experience and struggle with not only for owners but management.
Time Management
Time management practices can never be overstressed for any up and coming new business. Wasting time on unnecessary task cost money and loss. Everyone at some point in any business will find themselves or employees engaged in time wasting activities. By utilizing time wisely, business owners and employees, will find more time to solve problems thus put out fires that can overwhelm your business.
Prioritizing
Prioritizing is something that can be difficult for a lot of employees and entrepreneurs. You know there are things that need to get done but prioritizing them can be difficult unless you take the time to see what will affect your business immediately, if not what will cut into profits or slow processes. By not prioritizing you will find yourself continuously putting out fires. It is important that you the entrepreneur know how to prioritize as well as any employees that you may have.
Training/Education
It cannot be stressed enough just how important training/education is for yourself as well and your employees if you have them. The time spent to educate all staff on these aspects for your business will ultimately save you money and a lot of headaches.
A lot of entrepreneurs know how important it is for them to understand the concepts listed here but fail to see that it is just as important for their employees. You will find with training/education that this learned skill will have you spending less time on putting out fires and more time is spent on running your business and growth.
This is not an all-inclusive list, but these areas should be at the top of your list to put out fires in your business. You undoubtedly will come up with other methods specific to your business as you grow in the above areas. Making the system to fit one business will not always fit them all but if you have the tools to work with it is not difficult.
As an entrepreneur, you need to understand that putting out fires is a drain on your time and finances. Knowing how to stop this type of behaviors for yourself and for your employees is a challenge. With work and education for all, you can make the necessary changes to help grow your business.
Get the help you need to make these changes for a successful business.
Would you like to schedule a complimentary Explosive Business Growth session? We normally offer these sessions at $500 each, but offer 5 of these sessions a month for FREE. Contact us to schedule your session before they fill up. Click here.