What's on your 'To do' list?

For a typical business owner it will be a wide range of things.

From the strategic to the tactical. From the long term to the shorter term and the downright urgent!

It strikes me that the contents of your 'To do' list can tell you a lot about how you are managing the business.

If the items on your 'To do' list are leaning more towards the tactical/short term/urgent, you are probably still at the 'Technician' phase of managing your business described by business guru Michael Gerber. You are still very hands on 'doing' and delivering the product or service to your customers. Strategy? Whats that? I haven't got time to breathe never mind think about being strategic!

If your 'To do' list content is more long term/strategic - recruiting a new senior employee, negotiating terms with a prospective new customer, looking at a new IT system to improve effectiveness etc you are probably in the Manager/Entrepreneur phase. You are thinking in the longer term and perhaps engineering how your business can continue without your day to day input. That is a much better place to be for a business owner.

Well that's all well and good but an urgent list is an urgent list and this stuff needs to get done! 

That is true. When I get into overwhelm mode - it happens to us all from time to time, I review the list and set priorities. Is there anything on the list that can be delegated or deferred? With some tinkering, planning and thought the list can be made more manageable.

That sorts things out for the immediate future but what about the longer term? 

If 'overwhelm mode' is the normal state of affairs for a business owner, some time needs to spent on thinking how things might be made more manageable over time. That might need some time out from the business to think things through and work out a plan. An external facilitator can help here to help you look at things afresh and bring new ideas.

So do think about this if you feel trapped by your jobs list. We all need plans and 'To do' lists. They are what move us forward. For business owners, your list should be motivational and moving you towards a longer term goal.

If that's not the case with your list, it's time for action.

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Letting go

Every business owner wants to be set free from their business.

At least they should want this. A business which can run effectively without day to day input from the owner is much more valuable than a business which is reliant on him or her.

Value aside it must be much more rewarding in a practical sense having a business which works for you rather than just being being your place of work. 

That’s the theory. The practice is much more difficult.

If being ‘the boss’ has been your raison d’etre for 10 or 15 years, to morph into someone who is not needed and maybe even gets in the way a bit, is a difficult transition.

Part of the DNA and make up of business owners and entrepreneurs is being driven and busy. Long ‘to do’ lists, not enough time. Demanding customers, challenging suppliers,  employee problems. Stress. Adrenaline.

When you stop being essential to the business its hard to let go of old habits of jumping in, fixing problems and doing things the way you’ve always done them.

So what’s the solution?

Well I’m no expert because I am still fairly hands on with my business. My employees would be the judges of how needed I am. Maybe I’ll ask them. 

But getting back to the solution, I think the first thing is to learn to let go of the guilt. It’s ok not to be busy. It’s your business. You’ve put in the hard work. You’ve built the team. Now let them get on with it.

You can of course put your energy into something else - a new hobby, a new business venture or developing a new stream of your existing business.

If you have managed to find your freedom be sure to celebrate it. It’s a nirvana that many business owners never reach.

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Learning from the Babylonians

If someone asks me to recommend a book on personal finance I choose George S. Clason’s, ‘Richest man in Babylon.’ 

I’ve given copies to my kids (I’m not sure if they ever got round to reading it) and to several other friends and acquaintances over the years.

Clason was born in 1874 and started writing this book as a series of pamphlets in the 1920s. The pamphlets were circulated by banks and insurance companies and became very popular. Eventually they were compiled into the famous book.

The book is a series of stories which purport to draw on the wisdom of the Babylonians, some 6,000 years ago. They built a prosperous and successful city and dynasty that survived for centuries, founded on principles of trade and sound financial management.

The principles are timeless and if followed, with application and some luck, over a period of time should make anyone wealthier.

Here is a brief summary of the 7 rules for acquiring and retaining wealth as described in the book:

1. Start thy purse to fattening.

Simply put, save 10% of what you earn. Easy if you have a decent income, less so if you don’t. Very true, but Clason argues that whatever your income, regular saving is key. 

2. Control thy expenditures

Self explanatory this one - having a budget and sticking to it. Save the 10% and make sure you spend no more than the remaining 90% each month

3. Make thy gold multiply

As the 10% builds up into a reasonably-sized pot you need to make this work for you and generate an income. In today’s world Clason would say speak to an Independent Financial Advisor or propose investing wisely based on knowledge of likely risks and returns. He guards against. 'Get rich quick' schemes.

4. Guard thy treasures from loss

Clason’s view was that you should ‘protect your principal, ie if investing £1,000 make sure this is protected and is your minimum return. So under this rule the stock market or property investment would be ruled out. I suspect he might modify this rule in today’s world but the principle of being cautious about losses still holds true.

5. Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment

Again, self-explanatory but easier said than done for youngsters in the current housing market. House price inflation has outstripped wage growth for many years making it harder to get a foot on the housing ladder. My personal view is that it is still worth making the stretch to buy if at all possible. Government-backed incentive schemes can help and once on the ladder things should improve over time if household wages continue to grow.

6. Insure a future income

In other words, make sure you have some income for when you no longer work. For many of us this is an employment pension, supplemented by State pension. For the self-employed pensions often get neglected, especially in the start up years. Thinking ahead and providing for this well in advance is sound financial planning

7. Increase thy ability to earn

Learn a new skill, get a new qualification, keep learning. We know that pays off and increases earning potential in the longer run

That’s essentially it. The stories bring the rules to life and keep them in the memory.

By a mixture of luck, a fortunate upbringing and some mistakes made along the way I’ve kind of fallen into doing these things consistently over a period of time.

They’ve worked for me and I think can work for others too

Babylon may be no more but the Babylonians certainly knew a thing or two about the acquisition and retention of wealth.

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