Finding time to market your busy small business
Meta4 Coaching for Positive Change
‘...I haven’t got the time’ or ‘when I get a spare moment’ are common responses with busy business owners when asked when do you market your business? You know that allocating time for business development and marketing is essential for business growth, not to mention for the sustainability of your business. As a leader for your business, even if you have assistance with your marketing, you’ll know you still need to create and share the direction and strategy you have. So where do you find the time for this…?
How much time should I spend on marketing?
It’s important to answer this question first. The best answer is to use the [1] 60 30 10 rule - spend 60% on marketing and sales, 30% on delivery of your products and services and 10% on administration and management. If you’re in startup phase the rules change to 80-90% on marketing and sales. So, let’s take an average working week of 40 hours, using the 60 30 10 rule, equates to 24 hours per week on marketing/sales. This may sound like a lot or a scary amount in comparison to what you do spend, however, aim to make an impact on this in whichever way you can. Here are some ideas of where you can find the time to market and strategize for your business growth...
Monthly blocked out focus
Set aside time on a monthly basis for your business development - diarise it for the month and preferably, year ahead and let nothing get in the way of your business focus happening. Find blocks of time that work best for you and your business, half days and full days are great at the start and end of each month as you give yourself the opportunity to delve deep into your creativity, set plans at the beginning of each month and time to check in with them at the end. On these times switch your phone on to silent, switch off your email and agree (with yourself) times you will log back on, so you have full immersion to get the most out of your time. Set objectives at the start and agree what you want to achieve. Ask for my ‘Daily Accountability’ sheet and you will soon get into the habit of achieving more in less time.
Keep motivated and get creative with your time
Your business development time doesn’t have to be all reflective and office based, think about your business growth laterally too. What other ways do you wish to grow? Through networking, attending workshops, meeting with like-minded professionals, developing strategic partnerships? All this time counts towards your marketing and sales focus. So make sure you’re meeting your personal development needs too. It can be a lonely place being a business owner so put actions in place that keep you motivated and enthusiastic.
Delegate the tasks you dislike
...and focus on the stuff within your business that you love and excel at. Once you’re in business leader mode and are consistently setting out your growth plans you will feel much more confident at delegating the ‘doing’ and implementing out to trusted people. This will ensure you are always focused on the strategy of your business and not getting bogged down in the minutiae. Be abundantly clear on the ‘doing’ side, put in place timelines and processes around your delegated tasks in order to enable consistency, accuracy and gain the results you’re aiming for.
As someone recently shared with me…’success is the results of small efforts repeated day in and day out’, Robert Collier
Reference
1. Accountants for Growth