Generating momentum for the second half of the year
Business is a life force of its own that can easily take control of our personal lives as small business owners.
Working in our businesses and alongside clients has a way of making time pass very quickly. And we have a tendency to lose hold of making time for the working ON our business part that helps us be more efficient, saves money, and creates better balance.
Today I want to talk about what you should focus on to take back control over the second half of the year. To meet your goals and obtain better balance as you head into the busy fall and beyond.
As small business owners, were juggling 1 million different things, and we literally can’t do it all. Many of you are solopreneurs which means you don’t have a team to lean into and delegate some of your tasks. So let’s think smarter not harder!
A few recommended ways to get on track when your event-based business is running you rather than the other way around.
Have intention with your time. Look at your 24 hours a day. How can you best spend them? When I look at my calendar and I think to myself that I can’t make an hour to work out, or make a dinner without being on my phone – I know that the business is running me. Schedule your personal and development time as if it was appointments with clients. Have clear office hours for the second half of the year and stick to them. I set dedicated time each week on my calendar for blog creation, research, and brainstorming time. This allows me to keep a good pace in my growth and goals.
Simplify your tasks. Acknowledge the things you do each day that create impact and progress. Maybe you don’t need to be on Pinterest right now, or dare I say Instagram. If you were getting the most momentum and referrals and high-quality clients from other event vendors, invest your time there.
Ask for help. If you’ve never considered delegating, now might be a great time to hire a virtual assistant, or just a second set of hands for a couple of hours a week. Or simply ask a friend for help. If your time is worth $200 an hour and you hire someone for $20 an hour, you just made $180 an hour on them working. There is a little bit of onboarding, however, it can be worth it for the minimal tasks that are absolutely not worth your time. I recommend as a foundation to hire a bookkeeper (I’ve never cried again over Quickbooks for reconciling and tax prep!), someone to help with email correspondence an appointment booking (set up something like Calendly and integrate with your calendar… The person can help respond on your behalf. It looks very professional and saves you a ton of corresponding time), or a social media planning person (local colleges now have content degrees, you can easily find an intern to help you organize your content).
Say no!! That sounds like a no-brainer, but the best thing that we can do in business is just say no. Maybe someone’s asking for a coffee tomorrow, schedule them at a time that maybe is going to be less stressful for you. Maybe you have a client asking for some thing outside of their scope. It’s OK to act with professionalism and let them know the possibilities based on their timeline and your current availability. No can be a hard word to learn, but it will help you position yourself like the expert that you are and allow you to have better balance in your day-to-day life.
Sit in silence. When you have all of the monkeys in your brain telling you all the different things that you need to do and the unending to do list is stacking up, it can feel chaotic. It’s a lot of pressure to just be at your desk or with clients to not feel like you’re falling behind. Taking a short walk, setting your phone aside and sitting outside for 10 minutes, taking 10 minutes to close your eyes and rest or even take a couple days off can be really helpful in resetting your brain to feel more focused and the weight lessens on your shoulders. Choose yourself and take 10 minutes.
Lastly, acknowledge how far you’ve come this year - all that you have achieved and when you look ahead, your dreams for your business are in sight. It all comes together in the end with self reflection and editing as we move forward!
If you feel like you could benefit from taking hold of your systems and processes in your business to reduce overwhelm, create focus, and automate as much as possible for your client experience — save the date for my upcoming boundaries are your brand challenge starting July 25th–27th, 2022.