Many of life's circumstances are created by three basic choices: the disciplines you choose to keep, the people you choose to be with; and, the laws you choose to obey. ~ Charles Millhuff

Choose Your Hats Wisely

If you are in business for yourself, you wear many hats. OK, many, many hats. Sometimes you wear many different hats all in one day, and often you may find yourself wearing many hats at once! It's not too far-fetched to find yourself at times, wearing the wrong hat for the task at hand. (I hate when that happens!)

It doesn't matter if you are a butcher, a baker, or a candlestick maker....all businesses have specific tasks that are segmented into their own little 'niche.' A few examples? Client relations, sales, services, administration, marketing, advertising and record keeping.

So what is it about hats? It is not uncommon for business owners to think, "I can do that."  Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn't. Trying to do too much, often leaves you feeling stretched thin, like you are caught in a whirlwind and just can't gain ground. And you can't! Very few can do it all, and do it well!

As a business owner/Entrepreneur you have to decide which niches in the business you can fill.. and fill well.  Think hard about which hats you can wear consistently, and which hats would better serve your business if someone else was wearing it!

Which hats are most effective for you, and most productive for your business?

If you need to be with clients or providing services in order for your business to grow and thrive, how is that achieved if you are wearing the administrative office hat? It is easier now to hire others as the resources to handle tasks than it has ever been.

An experienced and savvy marketing pro can put your business right in front of your target market, saving you both time and money in wasted efforts. Nothing is less effective than trying to reach the wrong market! 

Think you are going to buy a bookkeeping program and keep your own books? Think again....you still have to have bookkeeping skills and knowledge...or all of the money you've saved will go to pay for someone to make sense of it all come tax time!

For a small fee, a personal assistant or concierge could run your business errands...trips to the print shop, the office supply store, etc. All tasks that need to be done, but they can certainly waste valuable time and leave you drained when instead you could be spending time with clients or prospective clients.  

Think about your hats. Decide which hats you can wear, and wear well...and think of the impact it has on your business. Hire someone else to wear some of your hats if you need to. Choose your hats wisely.

Who is going to let me?

The question isn't who is going to let me?....It's who is going to stop me??!!

No one would dare stop you but you!!

How's your Vision?

If you want to be in a bigger, better game, you have to "see" or think bigger and better.  Given a realistic, reasonable but methodical time frame and specific accountabilities, your dreams can come true.

When is the last time you checked your vision?  Just like life in general, business can become routine and stagnant if we are content just to settle in to the same ol' same ol' every day.

When you look at your business, do you see exactly what it is at this moment? Do you see the routine of tasks and chores, or do you see today as a stepping stone on the path to bigger and better things?

In order for your business to grow into something bigger and better, you must have a vision. But just having the vision is not enough to make it happen. According to Loral Langemeier, author of The Millionaire Maker, there are three things you need to go from vision to motion....

~ your vision needs to be exciting enough to energize you
~ your vision should be reasonable, yet doable
~ your vision should never compromise your values

So now, how's your vision?