As a business owner, it’s important to review and assess the aspects of your business on a regular basis.
In order to grow and be successful, you need to be sure that you are doing things like maximizing revenue and minimizing expenses, among many other things.
If you could take one whole day to just stand back and look at your business … what would you do differently?
It’s something that not many of us do without the prodding of a coach or an accountability partner. Often we get caught up in the day to day running of our business, and we forget to make sure we are doing everything we need to, to guide it in the direction we want.
Here are a few things you might want to look at.
Are you working too much? Have you set a schedule for yourself, and are you holding yourself to it? Working too much can fall into two categories – either you are doing more client work than you should be, or you are doing more back-end work on your own business than you should be doing. Either way, it’s important to assess this area. Overworking can very quickly lead to burnout and that’s no good for anyone. If you are doing too much client work, it may be time to get some help … or time to concentrate on providing just specialty services for your clients. If you are doing too much back-end work on your own business, it may be time to get some support for yourself.
Are you not working enough? Do you have enough clients? Maybe you are tinkering too much with your own marketing to step out there and find the clients. If you are running a business that should be generating a full time income for you, you should have a full roster of clients. If you are spending too much time looking for and trying to connect with clients, you need to look at this area of your business very closely. Be sure you put a system in place to meet and follow up with leads, and stick to it.
Are you earning enough? One of the things that will make or break your business success is your income. You have to look at where your revenue is coming from on a regular basis – and in fact you should be forecasting and goal setting for your revenue as well. It’s important to be working towards a goal. Determining where your revenue will come from can help you pinpoint the exact area to focus your marketing, so that you can achieve that goal. If you need to work with 5 clients to make your revenue goal, then you need to focus on having 5 clients on your roster.
Are you being paid on time? Do your clients pay you on retainer? Or do they pay you after you have finished the work? Many VAs begin by charging for work after it’s completed, and this can lead to ‘waiting for payment’ problems. It’s a hurdle that we all eventually get over, but getting paid for your services is the one thing that will keep you in business. How you bill your clients is a huge piece of the success puzzle. If you don’t have a policy in place for ‘when’ your client invoice is due (and I highly suggest prepaid retainers!), be sure to put one in place as soon as possible. If you consistently have clients who take weeks (or longer!) to pay you, tell them your policy. If they don’t agree, move them out for clients who are willing to pay.
Are your clients great? If you love the clients you are working with every day, that is a huge bonus in your business. Everyone has bad days of course, but you need to really enjoy what you are doing and who you are doing it with every day. It can be difficult to say no to a client that isn’t a right fit for you, but in the long run it really is easier to not work with someone who makes you upset or stressed out (you know the ones I mean … the ones who do everything last minute, or they micro-manage your tasks, that kind of thing). Successful VAs work with clients that fit their ideal client profile, and they seek out others who also fit into that profile. No need to work with every client … be sure you are making room for only the ones that will elevate you in your business, as you help to elevate them.
There are so many things that make up a successful business. By looking at just a few of them regularly, like the ones above, you can constantly tweak your business to make it exactly what you dreamed it would be. Step back and really look at your business – what would you do differently?
I’d love to hear your comments on this article!