Today we’re going to talk about how to improve your decision making process. This is something that comes up a lot, something that I see a lot of business owners, I would say, the vast majority of business owners struggle with. which is what to do first. Their head’s on a swivel, there are things flying at them 100 miles an hour constantly and all day long, and sometimes it’s just a struggle to keep your head above water, especially now probably more than ever. But there is a better way.
If you don’t already know, there are some great ways to really structure your time to really drive your business forward and make the best decisions, and I have a couple of tips for that. I’m going to break this into two parts.
Time Management
The first one is, you just don’t know where to focus your time; maybe there’s just so many loose ends, so many projects and so many different things that are going on your business. How do you know what to give your attention to first? That’s a big question to ask – I think a lot of business owners ask themselves that question.
And there is an answer. This is not me trying to shamelessly plug a book that I’m in or seller or whatever, but on our website we have a page for Fix This Next, and there is an Evaluation that you can fill out for yourself on there, totally free. It’s a series of these 25, multiple-choice questions so it might take you 10 to 15 minutes, but it’s really intriguing!
The results and what you’ll find out about your business at the end of these 25 multiple-choice questions are eye-opening to say the least. You’re going to find out where you should be spending your time, which is likely going to be somewhere in the bottom 2 of 5 levels of the Fix This Next pyramid.
By the way, if you’re a Spark ‘Starter’ client most of you are getting this Christmas gift! 🎅 🎁
Most businesses are going to find that they need to work on their sales and profit systems, maybe even in order, in your business. You’re going to really hone in on out where you are currently focusing in your business and if that’s where you need to spend your time.
Sales
Just say you’re in sales – you know you’re not maximizing your sales. You know there’s a hole in your sales process. Mike pinpoints where you need to focus your time. This assessment would be the first thing I would do if you’re struggling with what to do next, where to go next and where you should be spending your time. Do that Fix This Next Evaluation, again, totally free, and you can do it over and over again whenever you need to. If you’re not maximizing your sales yet, just remember that they’re the foundation of your business.
Here are a few key sales points:
- Have your sales numbers fixed (this should be in your business plan).
- Figure out how you can do a better job at that constant sales lead.
- Understand and/or plan your sales funnels.
- Have a specific plan for how you’re addressing those sales.
- This is super important to really tie up in your business.
Profit
The second one is Profit. And now more than ever profit is so important for businesses. You should have a system for profit. It is not a happy accident that you really hope might end up on a piece of paper at the end of the year for your taxes – or maybe you hope it’s not there for taxes – it depends how you look at it. You do need it for your business. You can’t pay debt if you don’t have profit, you can’t reward your staff if you don’t have profit and you certainly can’t create any reserves for your business.
So I think I’ve mentioned this before, that our clients that have a method for profit have been using it for at least a year, called Profit First. When COVID hit back in March, those that had been doing Profit First for about six months to a year or so were much better off than the other ones because they had a reserve, so they had something to say, “Okay, I have this money set aside that I’ve been setting aside all year long and I’ll be okay.” Obviously it’s been going on a lot longer than what we expected in March. Because of this we’re also encouraging clients to take advantage of the government programs like the PPP and the EIDL.
So that’s the next order if your sales are nailed down, you’ve maximized your sales process and that’s working like clockwork You really need to make sure you have a system for PROFIT. Again, those clients I mentioned above are thriving today. Our clients that haven’t done that are in a completely different boat, just terrible, so profit is really important. We have a free Profit First Checklist HERE and our Profit Lab Course HERE.)
Order
The third one is Order, and that’s the system to the business – that’s really where you want to get your team involved. If you’re by yourself there are some great books on creating order and systems that make things so much easier and smoother and more cost effective in your business. So I think that’s a really great place to start.
Fear
Another part of how to improve your decision-making process would be something that I’ve recently been coaching a client on; if everything else is all set in your business, it’s running pretty smoothly and you just need to know what to figure out, how to spend your time and when you go to make a decision (if it’s a pretty big decision for your business), try and make it without fear. I think fear is the number one thing that holds back so many business owners from getting to that next level or even just making that next step. Fear is not your friend. Now, that’s not me saying take all the money in your bank account and go put it on black on a roulette wheel with no fear – I’m not saying be crazy.
But if you have a great idea, or something that you want to try and you vet enough to think ‘I think it can work,’ and the only reason why you haven’t tried it yet is because you’re thinking ‘what if it doesn’t work?’ Take the fear out of the equation. I would say go for it, but maybe before you go for it, brainstorm, take notes, go through a process – and whatever process you use to make a decision, bring it to your team if you have one. Not just so they can tell you what to do or what not to do, but just to get feedback. It’s always good to have feedback and then take it all with a grain of salt because in the end this is your decision to make. And then just make sure that you’re in a really great frame of mind too and that you’re taking care of yourself when you go to make the decision.
We see this in our front-row seat to our 200 plus clients right now. Weekly bi-weekly or on a monthly basis. The number one thing I see holding business owners back is fear, so take it out of the equation, but get your idea well-established and take some risks.
Marketing
And lastly I’m currently reading a book it’s not out yet I think it’s gonna be released in September. It’s about marketing but it’s a different type of marketing book. It’s not about spending money on marketing. it’s really about the brain science behind marketing but in a fun, very approachable way. And a lot of it will tell you to not be fearful – to come up with an idea by being as crazy as you want to be. Have some team members around it, throw it against the wall, see what sticks, put it together and just try it – it’s really, really exciting. When you do that, and things will happen. And if it fails, that’s okay. Try again. So again, take fear of the equation.
And once more, do the Fix This Next Evaluation if you haven’t already done that to figure out where you need to be spending your time. Ask your team or people that you really trust for some feedback but take it with a grain of salt. And if you need any more assistance on how to make better decisions and organize your decisions anything like that we actually do have a course coming up, build your business that you might be interested in taking a look at which will really walk you through that process of how, when, where and why to make the best decisions for your business. That’s it. So until next week, have a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful holiday week!
