Working In Your Business Or Working On Your Business?
Because there’s a difference between the two.
As business owners, we often find ourselves caught in a cycle of endless tasks, client work, and daily operations. It's super easy to get so wrapped up in these immediate demands that we lose sight of the bigger picture. Most of us get stuck in the day-to-day running. We're so focused on keeping things ticking along that we forget to take a step back and ensure we're on track to our goals. But there's a crucial distinction we need to be aware of: the difference between working in our business and working on our business.
Working in your business involves the day-to-day activities that keep things running smoothly. It's the client projects, the emails, the admin - all the tasks that ensure your business stays afloat. Don't get me wrong, these activities are incredibly important, but it shouldn't be all you do.
On the flip side, working on your business is about zooming out and focusing on growth, strategy, and long-term success. It's about making your business better: streamlining your processes, setting up automations to save time, cooking up marketing strategies to bring in more leads, and constantly improving what you offer.
The challenge lies in striking a balance between the two. Yes, you need to keep the day-to-day activities ticking along, but if you're not setting aside time to work on your business, you might find yourself running in the same spot instead of moving forward.
So, how do we make sure we're spending enough time working on our businesses and getting the true results we desire? It starts with taking a good, hard look at how we spend our time. Are we just keeping busy, or are we focusing on stuff that actually moves the needle? We need to figure out which tasks really make a difference to our business growth and prioritise those.
To get a clear picture on your time allocation, I recommend tracking every task for a week using an app like Toggl. This exercise provides real clarity into where your time is actually going. The first time I did this myself (it’s now something I like to do a few times per year), I was quite surprised at the results.
Once you've got that data, it's time to make some decisions. What can you tweak, eliminate, or add to get you closer to your goals? Maybe you're spending hours on social media without seeing much return. Or perhaps you're doing admin tasks that could be automated. Identify those tasks that really make a difference - the ones that actually move your business forward - and make them your priority.
Next up, you need to actually carve out time to work on your business. This might mean blocking out specific hours in your calendar just for strategic thinking, planning, and growth-focused tasks. Treat this time like you would an important client meeting - it's non-negotiable.
As you begin to focus more on working on your business, you'll likely identify areas where you can increase efficiency in your day-to-day operations. This is where automation and outsourcing come into play. Look for repetitive tasks that consume your time and consider whether they could be automated with technology or delegated to a virtual assistant.
The goal is to free up your time and mental energy for the high-level thinking and decision-making that only you can do.
Regularly checking in on your progress is crucial to this process. At the end of each quarter, review your goals and milestones. What worked? What didn't? Be ready to switch things up if needed. These check-ins are your chance to make sure you're still heading in the right direction.
It's about being proactive, not just reactive. When you nail this balance, you're not just keeping the lights on - you're building something that grows and evolves. That's how you create a business that doesn't just tick along, but actually gets you closer to your big-picture goals.
Are you just working in your business, or are you actively working on growing it? Are you so caught up in the day-to-day that you're not advancing towards your goals as quickly as you could be? Challenge yourself to regularly step back from the daily grind. Make time to think big, plan strategically, and work on the aspects of your business that will drive real growth. Your future self and your business will thank you for it.
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Never heard of toggl! Checking it out rn