It’s Time to Hit the Reset Button

I took a break last week and went on a 4-day working holiday with my mum and sisters. Luckily, my business is portable so I was able to host a teleclass and coach my clients while still enjoying the break.

During the holiday, I got time to reflect about my business and evaluate what was working and what was not. I didn’t do a formal evaluation, but just looked at ROI – Return on Investment.

Simply put, I looked at what I was doing to get more clients and grow my business, and the rate of return each activity was giving me.

Pareto Principle at work

The Pareto Principle came into play when I realised that just about 20% of my activities gave 80% of the clients and results I’m looking for.

Interestingly, these 20% activities were the ones that required least effort from me. In fact some happen as I live my life or do things that I enjoy.

There’s nothing major done and no big investment in terms of time and money. And yet, I was reaping so much from these that it seemed effortless.

It was evidently time to hit the reset button and focus more on these 20% activities while reducing or doing away with the 80% that aren’t working.

Unfortunately, Facebook is one of the 80% that I have to reset. I spend a lot of time on Facebook – posting to my group and pages, sharing information and tips in groups, and catching up with my friends.

The only part that yields great results is when I buy ads and when I connect with my friends. Everything else takes away my time and gives very little income or growth.

Time to reset…

One of the things I’m doing is shifting from a lot of Facebook writing and connecting directly with people through my blog, other writing avenues, virtual classes, and public speaking.

This shift specifically affects the 12 Weeks to Startup Facebook group because I’m going back to the main reason I set up the group.

My original aim was to have a place where people who are working through 12 Weeks to Startup can connect and share their ideas, lessons, experiences, challenges and successes.

I got caught up in Facebook-group-mania and concentrated on growing the group instead. That has attracted some people who fit my ideal clients for the program, some who are just looking for information, group junkies, and spammers.

I’ve spent some time yesterday and today cleaning up the group to get rid of group junkies and spammers.

Today, I’m back to the real reason this group exists. It’s a forum where those working through the book can interact, engage, learn, and help one another. I’ll also include people who sign up for the 12 Weeks to Startup Course.

Specifically, these changes mean that:

• I’ll no longer be answering questions that relate to information that’s already in the book. Instead, I’ll be dealing with questions or giving more tips related to specific information and resources in the book.
• I won’t post actively in the Facebook group as I used to. Instead, I will check in daily for those who have questions or have posted something that requires moderation. I’ll also share business startup articles I write and any other information that’s relevant for the group.

While I do enjoy writing and connecting with people, I also have to focus on giving value while building my business at the same time.

Business building takes time. It also requires more focus on the things that work and less focus on the things that don’t work.

Here’s some work for you today…

Change is not easy, and it’s even harder when you’re a business owner. However, you have to weed out some activities if you want to grow your business.

Here are some questions to help you identify what to focus on and what to let go of:

1. Have you evaluated your business? Do it now if you haven’t.
2. Are there things that you’re doing that are giving you a low Return on Investment (ROI)? Dump or reset them.
3. What is working without much effort on your side? Amplify this/these.

Your shift will annoy some people. But with time, you’ll notice that those who complain the loudest rarely buy from you or send you referrals.

It’s the silent prospects and clients that we ignore who are ready and willing to help us grow our businesses. That is where 80% of your focus should be from today on!