Not Enough Time
I talk with a lot of solo-practice coaches and counselors throughout the course of any given day. The single most common problem they talk about is not having enough time. Not enough time to see all the clients they’d like to. Never enough time to attend the kids’ Little League games. Not enough time to just sit and be. Just not enough time.
You worry about not having the time to grow your business. You feel bad when you have to take the laptop on vacation or when you miss Susie sticking the perfect landing because you were on your phone for work.
You’d like to help more clients. Make more money. You’d like to have free time and a life.
Return on Time
We talk a lot in the business world about “return on investment” (ROI), but what about “return on time” (ROT)? If you’re spending 60 hours a week on your business, are you seeing returns? And which returns are most important?
You can replace income or find a way to get more money. It might be hard, but it’s possible.
You can’t replace time.
A solo entrepreneur is running a business just like any other company out there. In businesses with the best systems and processes, there are many moving parts of which to keep track. Other businesses don’t typically have one person doing ALL THE THINGS.
Why should you?
Hustle Culture
You’re out of time for marketing, clients, family, and yourself because you’re spread too thin.
The “hustle culture” so prominent in the entrepreneurial world is letting us all down. Sure, there are seasons for a little hustle. Too many entrepreneurs confuse those normal seasons of hustle with toxic hustle. Go harder, go faster, work more.
It seems counterintuitive, especially if you’re not bringing in as much revenue as you’d like, but in most cases, if you’re time-poor, the answer is to hire help.
Correction: Hire the RIGHT help.
Hire the right help. Even if your finances aren’t where you’d like them to be, hire the right help. I’m repeating that on purpose!
Virtual assistants (VAs) are a great hire if there are one or two parts of your business in which you need help. If that will give you back some time, then go for it!
Overwhelm and Getting Help
Are you just overwhelmed by ALL of it? There’s no shame in that. If you’re gifted to coach and to counsel, all the business-y parts just might not be in your wheelhouse. Have you heard the phrase “the hurrieder I go, the behinder I get?” That happens when you’re frustrated because you’re trying to do things that aren’t you.
A digital business manager (DBM) can help you with that feeling of overwhelm. A DBM will likely start with a strategy call, which will include an overview of all the pieces of your business, what’s working and what’s not, and what your goals are, and then present you with a plan for options to move forward. These might include having a DBM like me manage virtually your entire business or just the pieces that overwhelm you. An option is sometimes to optimize the inner workings of your business and automate as much as possible so that you might manage on your own. There are many customized options in between.
When you’ve hired the right help, you can spend your time doing things more suited to you: helping more clients or writing courses or leading a group (all of which can lead to more money!).
Reclaim Your Time
Or you can embrace the extra time for yourself: Hanging out with family, practicing self-care, picking up a hobby you gave up for lack of time.
Or any combination of the above that makes you happy. After all, it’s YOUR time that you’ve regained!
In my 90-minute coaching intensive, how to reclaim your time and peace is one of the main things that I help coaches and counselors to figure out. We also talk about planning launches, your content, and the importance of measuring your metrics. Within one business day (often sooner!) you’ll have a plan of action to help you take back your time and your life.
Please click the link if you’re interested and we’ll have a quick chat to see if it’s a fit.
