4 Time Buckets Every Business Owner Needs
“Sometimes it takes me all day to get nothing done.”
I saw that on Facebook a while back, and it really stuck with me. Time is one of the things we constantly want more of but often use ineffectively. In fact, a recent Gallup and Wells Fargo poll showed that nearly 60% of small business owners work 6 days a week… and over 20% work seven days a week.
That number is astounding to me because almost every entrepreneur I know left their corporate jobs and started business, so they could have more control over their time and the freedom to do the things they really wanted.
In the early days of entrepreneurship, especially for solopreneurs, those numbers make some sense. There’s passion, excitement, and a lot of things that need doing. Often, we’re the only one doing them as we rarely have the resources or income for additional staff.
Over time, however, that level of work becomes unsustainable or we risk burnout. The challenge of course, is how to prioritize our time effectively as business owners.
For the last few years, I’ve divided up my time on a weekly basis into the following four buckets:
CEO Time
Sales and Marketing
Client Work
Business Operations and Administration
These four buckets guide the way I set up my overarching schedule and help me determine which things I can and should say yes to, and best of all, help me see where the gaps are when things feel out of whack.
So, let’s dive into each one, and as you’re reading, think about how these look in your own business. Where are you crushing it? Where are your opportunity areas?
CEO Time
This is hands down the most important category of time you can spend on your business. A bold statement, I know, but as a strategist, I can say with confidence that this block of time is the gamechanger for successful businesses.
Back in my corporate days, I taught a class on the importance of strategic planning and environmental scanning, essentially looking up and out vs. down and in. We spend a lot of time doing the work, which is great, but we also have to dedicate real time to working on the strategic elements of our business, taking stock of where we are, and making sure the business is on track.
On a weekly basis, I take two hours and critically look at my business. Here’s what I include in my CEO Time:
Reflect on what worked and what didn’t the previous week
Review my overarching business strategy
Review my key metrics (List and audience growth, client pipeline…)
Review revenue and profit to date compared to revenue and profit goals
Prepare for 3 areas of focus for the upcoming week based on my business goals and leveraging my 90 day plan
Revisit 5Cs and think through my marketing and sales plan
Identify any help needed... and ask for it
Time block for the week
This may seem like a lot, but it has been the difference for me as I’ve navigated a lot of change over the last year. Your CEO Time may look completely different, but I strongly encourage you to think about what you need to do to get a solid grasp on where your business currently stands, so you can make a plan and take action to keep moving forward.
Sales and Marketing
In all candor, I used to hate spending time here, especially when it came to sales activity, but a critical mindset shift - sales is service - has made this one of my favorite things to do. I won’t go into the differences between sales and marketing, but you need to do both.
During my CEO Time, I get clear on what my marketing and sales activities need to be by reviewing the offers I’m making that week, how I can and need to get in front of prospective clients, and what I need to do to nurture the relationships I have with people already in my pipeline.
For me, marketing time is often writing this blog, drafting content for social media, attending networking meetings, and meeting as many people as I can. Sales activity may look like reaching out to people who have engaged with my content on social media or this blog, having consults with those who reach out for a Client Attraction Audit, or engaging with my power partners with requests for introductions and support with promotions that are coming up.
We each get to decide what we need to do in order to grow our business, but I put this bucket as #2 in the priority list because there is no business growth without sales and marketing.
Client Service
You may be surprised to see this as priority #3. After all, the whole reason you have your business is to support and serve your clients. Being third on the list is not a reflection of how I feel about the clients I work with or the work we do together, but I know that there will be no clients if I’m not clear on my strategy and not actively bringing new people into the pipeline.
Client service, especially excellent service, is critical to running a successful business. In fact, it’s often one of the most overlooked aspects of your client attraction system. When you give your clients an amazing experience while also helping them get results, it’s like a gold star bonus, and often leads to repeat business.
Client service doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming. Delivering excellent results, thoughtful reach outs, small touches, gifts when appropriate, and making each person in your community feel seen, heard, and valued will do it.
Business Operations and Administration
This bucket is exactly what it sounds like: the administrative and behind the scenes stuff that needs to get done on a regular basis, such as process documentation, process improvement, business finances and bookkeeping (if you don’t have a bookkeeper, which I strongly recommend), email, and other miscellaneous tasks. To the extent you can, consider hiring a virtual assistant to help with these things, so you can free up your time to do the tasks that only you can do.
One last thing I’ll add… white space. You need unscheduled time to allow your brain to reset and create. This is why I’m such a fan of time blocking because it gives me dedicated space on my calendar to think without worrying about other things that need to get done.
How do you divide and prioritize your time? If you need help, grab a spot on my calendar, and let’s build a plan together.
