Focus On The Income Makers

Do you know the difference between working in or on your business?

When working in your business, you are performing the services and making the products that you sell.

When working on your business, you are doing most anything for your business other than producing what you sell. You may be:

• Making cold calls
• Writing blog posts
• Writing a newsletter
• Posting content to social media
• Networking in person
• Planning and setting goals (with action steps and dates) for growth

Have you heard of the 80/20 rule? In business, 20% of the products/services sold usually account for about 80% of the value of sales, 20% of the customers usually account for 80% of the sales, and these same customers account for 80% of the profits. The 80/20 rule has also been proven in relationships and marketing as well.

So, the bottom line is, focus on what truly bumps up the profits. Focus on your best products and your best customers. Determine, where did those best customers come from, and determine how you will attract new customers like them. How did you form the relationship that you have with your top customers? How will you repeat that relationship and multiply?

What business tasks never result in sales or income? Ask yourself, what can you automate? What can you farm out? I used to say that I could not delegate anything out, but here I am, a virtual assistant, and I have heard my clients tell me how it has worked for them. Just by the sheer act of freeing up time, clutter (back log) is removed, and a fresh mindset surfaces. Business owners are freed up to work on their brand!

Never be afraid to survey your best customers. I have received invaluable feedback from customers, including how to better promote my business or products, what not to say (what turns them off), and what attracted that customer to me or my products to begin with. I once had a customer tell me that it was blog alone, another told me it was my newsletter. Your best customers support your business financially, and they are also incredibly valuable for business feedback.

Have you surveyed your customers? Have you considered sending a thank you card to your top customers, and asking if you can call them? Briefly tell them in advance what you will be talking about. This call can be of incredible value.

Work on your business, this is your main focus, and speed up (or chop down) the time that you spend working in your business. Have you considered any of these steps, or similar ones, and how has it worked for your business?