Do you ever feel like the weight of the world is on yourshoulders? Do you walk around feeling like nothing will get done unless you doit personally? Do you wish that there were 34 hours in the day instead of 24? Yes?Then you are probably a self- employed entrepreneur! By nature, we like to bein control and take charge. The very definition of the word "entrepreneur"means to take control, to take charge and to undertake a specific task.
Entrepreneurs don't make it in business by sitting still. Wemake it by doing what needs to get done. Unfortunately, after years of "doingwhat needs to get done," it sometimes gets difficult to turn off theswitch and let others do their part. Truly successful business people, infitness or any line of work, learn how to prioritize the really important stuffand outsource the rest. In other words, they learn how to prioritize.
I've often written about how it can be really simple to lookat your business to move it forward. The back-to-basics approach works well andmakes things appear less intimidating. Find clients, train clients, billclients. It sounds easy doesn't it? The problem is that each one of those threeareas needs to be broken down into dozens of tasks that need attention and needto "get done." They all take time and energy regardless of howimportant they are.
The key to success (and to enjoying your success) is to beable to prioritize which tasks are worth your time and effort and which arebetter off forgotten or outsourced. It is not uncommon for stressed outbusiness people to spend hours and hours on tasks that could easily be donemore efficiently by an assistant and which bring in little to the business. Thereason for this is that a clear list of priorities has not been outlined. When everything is given the same importance, then you might as well fold towelsinstead of networking, developing joint ventures, designing outreach events orbringing in more clients.
If you are the driver of your business then your priorityhas to be in doing the things that actually BRING value to your business. Letyour technicians do the technical work of training and bookkeeping. Earlier Ioutlined the three things that demand attention. Finding clients, trainingclients and billing clients. Your number-one priority must be in finding moreclients for your technicians to work with and to bill.
Develop a broad picture of what you think you can do toenhance your fitness business. If it is developing more networkingopportunities and partnerships then create a list of ways that you can do this.If you find yourself looking for work because you don't have enough to do, don'ttake a step back and busy yourself with busy work.
Focus, plan, prioritize and get to work.
Ernie Schramayr is an ACE-Certified Personal Trainer and the owner of All Canadian Fitness, a private training studio in Hamilton, Ontario (www.allcanadianfitness.com).
