I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t matter how much I have grown my practice or what things I am doing differently, there invariably comes a point in each year when I find myself without enough time. I get that entrepreneurs will always be busy. We need to be busy, to think strategically to grow and thrive. However there comes this point where I feel like I have completely lost the plot. I usually forget really important things (like my Grandmother’s birthday), find I am cutting corners just to squeeze out a few extra seconds (like not bothering to hang up my clothing then ending up with this big pile that needs to be sorted. I hate that!) and becoming really demanding on the people closest to me who for some reason should by now be able to read my mind and simply know how “ busy” I am and start helping me out!
I know I’m not alone, because there are many people in this community who talk to me about this very same issue.
I’m going to share with you today the 5 things that NEED my attention every time I get into this situation. These are the 5 things that have given me back on average 5 hour a week each week, when I focus on them and revisit them. And it may be interesting for you to know this worked for me after my first 12 months in private practice, and then it has contributed to a 30% revenue increase every year for the past 5 years. So these issues are not dependent on size, or stages of your business – they are dependent on what you need to be focusing on now.
I’ve also created a Cheat Sheet that you can download to use in your business right now. (download here)
Now before I go on, answer me this……..What could you do with an extra 5 hours in your business this week?
Do you really want these 5 hours?!?! – lets go get it!
1. Respect how you use time.
If you are selling time for money then you must know that there are only so many hours in each day that you can sell. There is a limit to selling time for money. You have to understand this.
If don’t sell your time for money. Maybe you sell online programs; products; maybe you are a trainer, speaker or consultant then understand this; everything you say YES to, means there is something you are saying NO to. You cannot simply say YES to everything, or everyone all of time. There comes a time when you will be saying NO. Your choice – say yes to unpaid speaking engagements to raise your brand; say No to being available to your kids this weekend? Say YES to that ‘can I pick your brain over coffee’ appointment and then say NO to the time needed to write that article for paid publication. Every time you say YES to something, you are also saying NO to something else.
2. Understand that the size of your caseload, your clinic load is NOT directly proportional to the number of hours you can sell.
There is a limit to the number of client’s you can serve at any one time. More client’s does not mean more money – more client’s means more stress; poor outcomes; fatigue; poor health and burnout.
Beyond this the size of your team is not directly proportional to the size of your revenue. The size of the right team with all members doing THE thing they were employed to do the way they were employed to do it, with the right tools and resources to execute their role – now that type of team is directly proportional to your revenue. Your job is to grow this type of team.
3. Do NOT put all of your eggs in one basket.
You must understand that to grow a thriving practice you must have more than 1 referral source. More than one lead generation source. More than 1 way people come into your practice. Too often I see private practitioners going out on their own with 1 solid referral source doing great until something changes – something like legislation; or the referral source moves on and can’t refer to you anymore; or the funding doesn’t get reapproved; or the referring agency goes bust or your FB pages gets taken down by FB for no reason; or your online lead generation campaign platform stops working. YOU must develop multiple lead generation sources for your business.
4. Become very clear about what you will NOT do for FREE. I know you; you are doing stuff for free, because we all do. I’m not going to tell you NOT to do stuff for free, I just want you to be aware of what you are doing for FREE and why.
5. STOP double handling information!
You will be amazed right now at how much information is being double handled in your practice. I know it is. For some of us compliance maintenance breeds this lack of integrated information management. It’s time to get smart – systematize your information management. This gave me back so much time and saved me a fortune in VA costs!
BONUS! – because in all honesty these 5 activities are great but the 1 thing you need to do this week is
MAKE FRIENDS WITH MARKETING AND SALES!
There is no resisting this any further, you cannot grow a thriving practice without investing in learning about marketing and sales.
Now, in all honesty I have in the last week ( its early August 2014) just gone through these 5 activities again, and was appalled at where I was giving away my time and FREE activities and what I was saying YES to when I really needed to be saying NO. For me this has woken me up to the thinking that I won’t grow my business or my team any further if I keep behaving like this. I’ve been in practice now for 5 years and doing this review again recently I know will bring about massive shift and change in my business. Its actually time for me to let some client’s go again. It’s time for my case load to get smaller so I can invest my time in management and marketing.
Can you see where there is an extra 5 hours in your practice this week? – if not Go use the cheat sheet I have created for you. Chances are if you have read this far in this blog, then Yes! Yes you will know that what I am saying rings true and that you are about to unlock the next big step to your personal productivity, effectiveness and revenue growth.
If you have recognized that you may be struggling how to make everything fit into your time. Know you are not alone. I know you because I have been you. Let me help you. Feel free to take advantage of a FREE 30 minute consult where I can help you to find this extra 5 hours a week into your practice. To claim this FREE consult, click here
Here’s to your success
Jo
P.S. Know someone who could benefit from reading this blog post today? Then share the love………
P.P.S. Health Professionals deserve the lifestyle and freedom that comes with being successful business owners. These are skills you can learn!
