Working for your business vs working on your business.
So, what is the difference between working for your business and working on your business?
They seem similar.
But, they are not.
One can lead to failure and wasted time, while the other can lead to growth.
To start us off, what is working for your business?
Working for your business is doing tasks that can and should be outsourced.
Your job as the founder should be to focus on doing the things that only you can do. Tasks that you are uniquely positioned the do well at. Your goal should be to minimize the time that you spend doing tasks that can be outsourced, so you can focus on growing the business.
Let me use an example.
For the sake of conversation, let’s say you own a grocery store. If your goal is to grow your store’s revenue you shouldn’t spend all day working the cash register. You should focus on higher impact tasks, such as scoping our possible new locations, analyzing your best-performing items, optimizing the location of products in the store, and so on. If you work the register all day, you won’t be able to do any of this.
Working for your business is a part of life, however, if you spend day in, day out working FOR your business, it will limit your growth.
So, what is working ON your business?
Working on your business is doing tasks that drive growth for your business. These things take your business from 4 figures to 5, to 6, to 7, and so on.
It isn’t always easy to work on your business. Sometimes you will have to say no to working for your business. I’ve looked at it that if I spend all day working the register, then I am just wasting my time.
This isn’t to say you shouldn’t work for your business.
There will be times when you have to pick up a shift at the register, but you should not spend all of your time there.
What we are reading this week: Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson
This book discusses cognitive dissonance and how to identify it. So far, it has been fascinating to better identify the biases that exist within my own behavior and those around me. I really enjoy reading books like these because they shift my worldview. When you understand why people say and do the things that they do you are better equipped to combat their irrationality. Plus, the book is well-written and entertaining.
Quote of the week:
“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming. . .”
Theodore Roosevelt