There is just not enough time

Are you letting time beat you? Is your lack of time stealing the most vital of actions...your decision making? Of all the things that not enough time takes from us, losing the time to properly spend on making a decision has the most impact on the future of your business. This make take three forms...

You spend so much time procrastinating about a decision that you invariably make no decision...which is a decision in itself but probably not the one you needed!
You spend no time on considering a decision because you are too "busy" to devote the time and therefore again, no decision is made.
You are so busy that you make decisions on the run with little consideration and just go with your first thought.

I'm sure you will agree that none of these choices has the best interests of your business in mind but how often is this what actually happens? Once you realise the impact that these methods may have on your business you may choose to enact a decision making process that will be of benefit. Whilst there may be many 'cute' methods going around there is no substitute for the tried and true methods detailed below.

Diarise the appropriate time in your diary to consider the decision
Clearly define the decision to be made
Gather the necessary information and data
Develop a number of options and document the pros and cons
Invite comment from other stakeholders
Based on information choose the course of action required
Implement the decision

You will see that whilst simple this is hardly a 3 minute process, and rarely should it be one that takes weeks to resolve. In your business you may have also identified that it's procrastination or a poor decision making that causes most of your sales to stall even when your prospect has identified that your product or service is of benefit to them but just can't seem to take the plunge.

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ISO 9001:2008, the new standard - FREE TEMPLATE

You may have read recently that there is to be a revision of the ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System standard. Whilst the revision is not completed yet you can click here to read about the main changes. If you are undertaking ISO 9001:2000 accreditation you may like to view our FREE Quality Management system manual.

This manual is available as a TKO template which will enable you to edit, review and publish all of your quality system manual content eitheduring or prior to your accreditation audit. Each requirement of the standard has been documented complete with a generic procedure ready to easily edit and expand upon to ensure it reflects your internal processes accurately.

For more information or a free demonstration of how TKO can master your quality manual contact us today or book a live demonstration.

Working on your clients vs. Working on your business

The activities of your day are generally divided into two areas, working on your clients and working on your business. Rarely can both be done at the same time. The balancing act you face is just how much time to spend on either each day/week/month and acknowledging where is your time best spent.

As an exercise write down the actions of a typical day, check your diary for clues, and categorise them into time on clients or the business. Depending on your role this may vary dramatically between readers so the table below should help.

Your Role	Optimum % of time on clients	Optimum % of time On the business
Business Owner	20	80
Manager	40	60
Employee	80	20

As you can see depending upon your role the amount of time that you focus on strategic work on the business versus client work can vary greatly. Where most business owners get trapped is in spending an inordinate amount of time on clients and only a small percentage on working on improvement and success strategies.

The managers role is the lynch pin to the business. Once the owner has communicated the vision and strategy of the business to the manager, it is up to them to create a system by which the employees of the business will work to ensure that the strategy is delivered to the clients for the mutual benefit of those clients and the business.

It is in this process that things mostly go haywire which is typically caused by each role not spending the appropriate time on each area of the business. So, where do you spend all your time...does that need to change? Who do you need to assist you in your business to make the changes?

You can never do too much reading

If knowledge is power, and books have knowledge then it would follow that you can never do too much reading. Now there are heaps of free books on the internet that you can download and save but there is still nothing like having a "real" book to read and enjoy & then pass on to employee or clients to benefit from. Some gems that we've been reading recently are:

The Answer: Grow Any Business, Achieve Financial Freedom, and Live an Extraordinary Life - For fans of The Secret this book takes the viewpoint of the business owner and using the same principles guides the reader through the the challenge of growing a business. Lots of great case studies and some effective nuts and bolts tools included.
Key Performance Indicators: Developing, Implementing,and Using Winning KPIs - For those who are big or are thinking big about key performance indicators. A step by step guide on how to measure just about everything in your business including 100s of samples.
Business, Second Edition: The Ultimate Resource (Business : the Ultimate Resource) - Don't be fooled by the cheap price...this is a nearly 2000 page book with the answer to everything about everything business! I just can't stop reading it. A bit like an encyclopedia, everything matters but how, when & in what order you read it is irrelevant. Absolutely great value!

If you've read a business book recently that is worth sharing about please let us know so we can tell the world! You may like to view all of our recommended books or visit our business bookstore anytime.

Save time - Meet online

The ultimate time saving tool is online meeting software. These amazing tools will reduce travel and stress while saving you heaps of money. For those of you who have experienced a demonstration of our TKO software you will remember that you are able to view our screen whilst having a phone conversation and then as a TKO user you may also have had the experience of one of our tech support team using the same tool to view your screen and actually work remotely on it quickly and easily.

You might also know that we conduct all of our training online in groups which is also enabled through the same technology. There are a few online products available with our recommendation of the simplest to use and best value being GoToMeeting. It now even has a free VOIP phone call service embedded!

Try GoToWebinar - the new, affordable, do-it-yourself Web event service that doesn’t require a consultant. Free Trial available.