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Guest post by: Lorraine Pirihi Become an Author

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Whoever thinks that running your own business is a breeze, obviously has never had one. There are so many areas you need to get right otherwise your business could end up disintegrating along with everything else in your life.

..... You need to be organised and disciplined, a good marketer, action-taker, a great communicator, understand finances, have systems, plenty of resilience and so much more. If any of these areas are lacking in your business then you're heading for trouble. Of course you can hire other people who have these skills and attributes so you can focus on what you're good at. Unfortunately many business owners try to 'do everything themselves' and that's why they don't achieve the goals and dreams they initially had when they went into business.

..... When John contacted me, he was at the point that he we wanted to shut down his business because he felt it was ruining his life. Although he'd invested years of blood, sweat and tears in building up what appeared to be a 'successful' air conditioning business, he had reached the end of the road.

..... He was in so much pain, he thought the only option was to get out of business. He was doing installations and maintenance work during the daytime and after work, he was up until midnight doing the paperwork. With a young family at home, he had little time to devote to them. The kids were growing up quickly and he was missing out on their childhood.

..... At work he did have 2 guys working with him to share the workload and because he was 'busy' didn't have the time to teach and train them properly. They made silly mistakes on the job and that would cost John more time and money fixing up the problems. Cashflow was a big issue because John didn't have the time to do the invoicing and follow up.

..... John suffered in many ways both physically and mentally. He had a 'bad' back, was overweight and constantly feeling rundown.

..... No wonder why...he was trying to do everything himself. He had never invested any time or money learning how to improve his business and his life...

Here's some of what we did...

1. Freed up John's time so he had weekends off and enjoyed more family time during the week. Prior to working with me every spare minute was spent working in his business.

2. Delegated the invoicing .... in John's situation he only required a bookkeeper part-time to focus on this area.

3. Set up checklists for his guys so they knew exactly what they had to do. This stopped them wasting time and also ensured when they filled in their job sheets, all time and parts used were accounted for. Using the checklists saved John 2 days a week plus thousands of dollars in materials. In the past the guys didn't write down all the parts they were using on a job and many items were missing from their job sheets.

4. Organised structured weekly meetings. Communication was a big part of John's coaching. He learned how to effectively communicate with the younger generation...what motivated them. He was then able to set up an incentive program to ensure they stayed motivated, happy in their workplace and strived to improve their performances. John learned valuable information from the expert interviews I had from The Productivity Coaching Club. He particularly benefitted from the interviews on "Managing, Motivating and Living With Generation Y" and "How to Manage and Retain Your People".

5. Had John see the appropriate people to get his health on track.

6. John has regular allocated time to work 'on' his business. Currently we're looking at how to leverage on the products/services he already has so he doesn't work harder, just smarter...and makes more money!

..... Before coaching John couldn't see the forest for the trees. He thought there was no other way but to close down his business. However there's always more than one way to get a result. It's just finding the right people who can help.

..... The truth is we live in a very confusing, complex world, where the business owner or entrepreneur is bombarded and overwhelmed. We have little or no time to pause for breathe and think. No-one can keep abreast of all they need to know anymore. The very real need for expert help multiplies by the minute.

..... For a business owner to insist on doing most of the “work” themselves, he or she is ensured of not only being grossly underpaid as a result, BUT OF UNWITTINGLY PLACING THE LID FIRMLY ON THEIR EARNING POTENTIAL TO BOOT! In most businesses there’s more money left lying on the table…

Here's the lesson

..... Don't try and do it all on your own. You won't be able to unless you want to be miserable and have no life. It is very difficult to work it out by yourself. How can you be an expert in everything? Let go of being a perfectionist. Liberate yourself and spend some money to make more money and you'll be happier, healthier and wealthier.



Lorraine Pirihi
Australia's No. 1 Productivity Coach

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