"Food for Thought”: How much time are you spending working “ON” your business?

As entrepreneurs our businesses are born out of vision and passion, but successfully built from the ground up by ourselves or a small team of support. As we grow, that team may become larger, but are you still working as hard IN your business? How much time do you, as the business owner, actually dedicate to working “ON your business” and why is this important?

What does working "ON" your business mean?

Working “ON” your business simply means making the time to:

• Re-evaluate and confirm your vision for the business

• Evaluate each activity in your business and ask:

o Will this help me achieve my vision

o How will this get me to my vision

o What should I not be doing?

o Where should I be focusing my efforts instead?

• Objectively look at your business and understand what it may be saying to you (this is done through performance analysis and process assessments)

• set the specific goals you need to establish to achieve your larger vision

• identify and assess which activities you should focus on to direct your business towards achieving its vision and which should be streamlined/removed.

What are the benefits of working "ON" your business?

The benefit of taking the time to work on your business, and doing it correctly, is that you will have the necessary framework to drive your business growth and set targets which are both stretched, but achievable. Not only will you identify room to implement operational efficiencies, but the execution of your day-to-day activities will be more deliberate and intentional. Out of this you will have a more targeted approach to:

• day to day operations

• communication plans

• team management

• communication content

• sales

• business development activities

Take some time to reflect

Given the above, ask yourself, when was the last time you really MADE time to work on your business? Is once in a while enough? How can you restructure your time or processes to make sure you prioritise working ON your business?

Author: Pearl Hitzeroth