 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
Seeking Help
Where does the time go? Billable time. As a consultant, your practice may be doing reasonably well; you're charging $100-150 an hour. As an independent consultant, you're probably also doing everything from grinding the coffee to editing the umpteenth draft of your brochure. To understand where you spend your time, list and categorize all your activities into clerical, professional and other suitable groups. Calculate how many hours you're spending on each-daily, weekly, monthly, annually. Some you enjoy, some you're really good at, some are a pain in the neck The point is, no one is paying you to do them. The more time you spend on client work, the more you bill. The more you bill, the more money you have available to pay someone else to take care of the stuff you'd rather not do or should not be doing yourself. The time you spend on unbillable tasks makes you a very expensive clerical worker. Keeping the cash to yourself sounds good, until you really think about it. You wouldn't pay a secretary $150 an hour, but that's precisely what you're paying yourself. Your time is valuable and should be spent earning money or on activities that grow your business like marketing or product development. The rest is just overhead-costly overhead. Can you afford not to hire someone? And, it's not just the on-going clerical and administrative stuff you can be helped with. Many of our own clients come only after having spent hundreds of hours trying to create their own marketing materials. Entrepreneurs strongly resist giving up any responsibility. You know the refrain, "If it's going to be done right, I've got to do it myself." They struggle endlessly with business plans, and similar activities unrelated to their field of expertise. You may indeed ask, who better? The answer is, your professional colleagues. They may charge the same hourly fee, but the job is done in much less time and they bring objectivity and fresh ideas. This is not only less expensive in the long run, but these things will also be done better. The repercussions of doing a inadequate job on your business plan, marketing materials, accounting, etc. can be severe. Certainly, keep an eye on things; but don't spend more time than you must. Leave the grunt work to others. Hiring clerical and professional help is practical, and necessary-if you want to squeeze the most out of your practice. Keith Thirgood, Creative Director, Editor Thrive-on-Line http://www.capstonecomm.com Capstone Communications Group Helping businesses get more business through innovative marketing Markham, Ontario, Canada 905-472-2330 Subscribe to Thrive-on-line http://list.capstonecomm.com/mail.cgi?f=list&l=thrive_on_line
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Creativity and Innovation Management: The Value Of Due Diligence Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. There are other useful definitions, for example, creativity can be measured according to the number of ideas produced, the diversity of those ideas and the novelty of those ideas. Understanding How Change Has Changed There seems to be an assumption that change is a single traumatic event that is thrust upon us and over which we have no control.In the recent past this was definitely true, in industry there would come a sudden realisation at the end of the financial year that unless we did something radical we were going to the wall. Resolve Differences Resolving conflict doesn't come easily to too many people. Most of us want harmonious relationships and smooth interpersonal interactions. Turnaround or Terminate? How to Deal with Problem Employees Do you struggle with a "problem" employee? If so, join the crowd! Many of my coaching clients - businesses owners or managers - tear their hair out over one or more toxic employees. In our business environment, we tend to recreate the dynamics of the family we grew up, so no wonder problems develop. How Bad Communication Can Hold You Back and How to Break Free of It The reason jobs are often not done right and employees are fired is because of lack of skill. Right? Wrong! Poor communication and ineffective human relations are the major causes. Managers Who Spend PR $$ Wisely If you are a department, division or subsidiary manager, your budget is a precious possession whether you work for a business, a non-profit or an association. So why stand by while your public relations team spends too much time and treasure on tactics like press releases, column mentions and brochures? Especially when you could be using an aggressive PR blueprint to persuade your most important outside audiences to your way of thinking, then move them to take actions that lead to your success?The good news is, that aggressive blueprint shines the PR spotlight directly on those outside groups of people who have a large say in how successful you're going to be - namely, on your key external target audiences. Travel the World - for Free! I have been very fortunate to travel to several countries of the world while on business - countries I may have never visited on a holiday. There are pros and cons to working/doing business in a foreign country vs. Top Ten Tips for Outstanding Customer Service Remember the 80:20 rule? You may not get everything perfectly right, but getting most right will be much, much better than the majority of your competition. These Top Ten Tips for Customer Service will get you well on the way. How to Deal With Salespeople If you are an executive, you may sometimes feel like a open jelly sandwich at a picnic. Every crazy critter in the world wants to bite into your budget. Einstein - Definition of Insanity Insanity in the Sign & Graphics IndustryEinstein's DefinitionAlbert Einstein once said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". Think about this quote for a second and ask yourself, does this quote apply to the way you run your company?Have you been doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results? If so, then you might want to keep on reading. The Red Phone - Management Consulting in 30 Seconds or Less Modern business faces complex problems; management often calls upon highly-specialized consultants to help them address these difficult problems. If you're ever called to help identify these most pressing issues, one of the easiest and quickest ways to start is to talk about the "Red Phone". How To Write Commercial Collections Letters It is sometimes valuable to bring the sales manager into this step of the collection process. Information concerning the delinquency can often be obtained from the sales department. Morale Boosters: Feed the Troops First When economic conditions turn tough or when the heavy work load seems never-ending, leaders tend to forget the "basics"-building commitment beyond the paycheck. It's the small things everyday that can bring down morale and it's the small things everyday that can raise performance. Do the People in Your Organisation Dress For Success? What really amazes me, with all the personal and professional development seminars people attend, from executives in corporate world, business owners and employees alike, very little investment has been made into the way they look .. Strategic Clarity for Communication Management Over the past few weeks I've been developing plans for a communication project, a media relations campaign.That's prompted me to reflect again on the communication management process by which we transform communication ideas into operational activities. Employee Orientation: Get New Hires Off To a Great Start The good news is that a new hire orientation program offers an opportunity to build a lasting impression of the new company. The bad news is that that is going to happen whether you plan it or not. Selective Job Cuts Often Benefits Firm More Than Broad Layoffs Over Long Term It is difficult to pick up a newspaper or listen to a business news broadcast without being greeted with the announcement of another massive corporate layoff or cutback. The economy catches a chill and, as a result, the corporate world catches a profits "cold. Get Meeting off To a Great Start When asked what part of their job they find a major time waster, many will answer loud and clear.. Creating A Vision - Bringing Your Dreams Into Reality Do you have some goals you want to achieve or dreams you want to fulfill? A useful tool in reaching the outcomes you desire is the creation of a vision, which can be short or long-term. I recommend writing down specifics to add clarity and focus. Creativity and Innovation Management - Competition versus Collaboration There is much confusion as to whether competition or collaboration is most beneficial to creativity and innovation. Though there are negatives to collaboration and it is not easy separating the effects of time pressure and group activity, in general collaboration beats competition.
|
|
|
 |
 |
