Efficient in Business
6 KEY STEPS TO BEING EFFICIENT IN BUSINESS
Article by Ling Wong
Photo Credit: Angel Quintana
Magazine: Issue #24
The core of being efficient and effective in your business starts with YOU. The best way to make your business run efficiently is to tap into your strength, and design structures and systems to maximize the income-producing potential of your strong suits.
It is easy to talk a good game about tapping into our strength and being in the flow. But putting it into practice can take some mindset muscle.
Growing up, many of us were conditioned to be “humble” or not to show off our strengths (especially for women.) A lot of times, we discount ourselves thinking the things that come so naturally to us is not valuable, is “just how things are done.” As a result, we are not deploying our genius in a way that will make our lives so much easier, at the same time generate more income.
Here is how to make your business more efficient and effective by tapping into your strength:
1| Find It
Of course, the first step is to identify your strengths. To acknowledge the abilities that you take for granted probably don’t come naturally to other people.
There are many tests and assessments to help you take this first step. The key is to translate your results into a business model and some smart strategies to support it.
2| Claim It
“Claiming the hell out of it” is way more than a marketing tactic just to toot your own horn. The process also strengthens your mindset so you can step up and be confident in selling what you offer.
For most of us, we were raised to be “humble” and this preconditioning is sabotaging our success because we are afraid to talk about (let alone sell) our strengths.
3| Articulate It
We are talking about business and to make a venture a business it has to make money, which means you need sell something.
To sell something means you have to be able to tell your potential clients why your products or services are valuable to them – why YOUR unique blend of strengths and superpowers is relevant to helping them solve their burning issues.
The process of articulating your strengths can also help you gain more clarity. When you have to “find your voice” to tell your story – you need to get clear on who you want to BE in your business, and who you want to be for your peeps. This clarity can become the guiding light for your long-term success.
4| Build Around It
After defining your strengths, it’s time to make sure your business is structured to highlight and utilize every ounce of it.
You can also create systems so the business and marketing activities that play to your strengths are put on autopilot as much as possible.
5| Sell It
A product or service sitting on the shelf won’t do you any good, and you can’t really call your business “efficient and effective” if it’s not making money! That means you have to get comfortable with SELLING. For most coaches, consultants and service professionals, that means having sales conversations with potential clients.
You can take all the world’s sales trainings and have a dozen “scripts” collecting dust on your hard drive, but if you don’t have the right mindset behind your conversation, your results are going to be patchy as best.
Having the right mindset means you are empowered in your conversation, and you have healthy boundaries around money so you are not undercharging, over-delivering, constantly discounting or (god forbid!) giving services away for free.
All clients have their money stories, but ultimately, it’s OUR own money stories and projection that are holding us back. Imagine you can state the price of your high-end package with no charge, just like you are saying “give me 10 carrots so I can make you a stew!”
The confidence and ease you have in stating your price is proportional to how well you can sell.
6| Chuck It
As in, your weakness. Stop beating yourself up for “not measuring up” in those areas. Stop fearing that you are “not good enough” because you are not “well-rounded”. Stop feeling you have to do everything everyone tells you, and excel in every single one.
Stop spending time, energy and money to make your weakness “better.” It will be mediocre at best and mediocre is not where the big bucks lie. If something is not your natural strength, you can outsource it. You can find a partner with complimentary talents. You can structure your business so you spend minimal time in those areas.
But it doesn’t mean you look the other way. Knowing your challenges can help you set up systems and routine to mitigate those weak points.
