Want a quick way to analyze the health and longevity of your business? Check out your calendar for some quick info on where you are headed!
What you see: White Out- you look at your calendar and see nothing! No appointments, no sales calls, no time working on marketing projects. You’ve got nothing.
What it means: Your business is in trouble! In fact, you don’t really have one. You are probably spending a LOT of time THINKING about business, but you are not making any money.
What you should do: Schedule some business! In the beginning you will need to chunk out time just to get the ball rolling! Once you generate some business then those appointments will come rolling in.
What you see: Black out- every possible inch of your calendar is covered with an appointment. You have little to no open time
What it means: Your current activity level is not sustainable over the long haul. If you continue at this pace, you will experience burnout.
What you should do: Unless you are rushing to finish a big project or goal, you will want to start blocking out open time in your schedule. When you are over worked your productivity goes down. When you hit burnout your productivity goes down. Want to keep productivity high? Schedule some open space!
What you see: LOTS and LOTS of education and inspirational activities- Seminars, workshops, webinars, live events, and networking meetings are filling up your time
What it means: You are playing more than working and you are in danger of falling into the student trap. Education is essential in business, but it should be in balance with actual income producing activities
What you should do: Start spacing out your education events so that you have time to absorb and implement what you are learning in between. That balance is different for everyone! I do about 4 education events a year as a student. But the key is making sure I have lots of income producing activities in between!
What you see: Lots of 1 type of activity- Maybe you have tons of sales calls, or tons of marketing opportunities. Maybe you are full just working with clients and fulfilling on your services.
What it means: You are not growing your business as quickly as you could! You are stuck in one area of your business and neglecting others
What you should do: Put together a weekly routine that allows all areas of your business to get attention. You may still spend the majority of your time in one area, but at least you know all critical areas are getting attention!