As a solopreneur, it’s so easy to sucked into working on what’s in front right now rather than what will help you build the business you want to have later. Always “firestomping” may keep the business from burning down but probably won’t help you get ahead. A certain amount of time to crank out some tasks is really important, but make sure to spend time every day doing something to create, grow and build the business you dream of.
It’s kind of like your home – every day, you plantable stationery do various things to maintain it like cleaning, laundry, changing light bulbs, taking trash out, etc. These types of tasks merely maintain your living space and don’t upgrade your home in any way. In your business, these maintenance tasks take the form of emptying your inbox, returning calls, filling orders, updating your blog, etc.
In your home, there are also small, periodic upgrades like painting or changing window treatments. In your business, this might be equivalent to new business cards, updating your social media presence or rewriting a page or two on your site.
Finally, in your home, every so often you need to do a big job like renovate a kitchen, upgrade the electrical, or reconfigure the space. If you don’t do these periodic updates, you’ll have a house that is out of date and that doesn’t function safely or well for your needs. In your business, these big renovations are things like website makeovers, creating new products and services or rebranding.
I’m the first to acknowledge that the every day maintenance tasks can be enough to fill a day, but you can see from the comparison to your home what will happen if you don’t carve out any time to improve, upgrade and grow. You’ll be stuck treading water in the same place as you are today.
So what’s the answer? Every day, find some way to carve out even a small amount of time to work on projects that will build and grow your business. Unless you are totally happy with the business you have today, this is a must-do item. If you don’t invest time and effort today in building your business, you won’t have the business you dream of tomorrow.
What are these business-building activities? They vary from business to business, but here’s some ideas to get you thinking:
Building your community of people interested in what you offer. This includes social media, real life and your newsletter.
Planning your next projects and long-term projects
Brainstorming
Educating yourself
Creating new products or services to sell
That’s just a few of the things you could be doing to build your business. What else do you do to build your business? How often? Leave a comment and let me know.