How to Build Your Business in 90 Minutes a Day

Karen Burge Author

If you are a business owner, you probably know that the most important thing you need to do is to constantly get and keep customers....

If you are a business owner, you probably know that the most important thing you need to do is to constantly get and keep customers. This is what makes a thriving business.

In the past, when asked what I was doing to get and keep customers, I would say that I’d been very busy. I’d been coaching clients, handling some calls, answering emails, going to the bank and sending out some invoices. I’d had a full day!

One day my mentor said to me “If you always want to get more customers, surely you have to set aside time each day to do that.”

I was stopped in my tracks. Yes, I’d been busy, but I’d become consumed by the ‘busyness’ of the day-to-day of running my business. What I wasn’t doing was focusing on the things that would bring in more customers and make my business successful!

As a business owner, your worst enemy is distractions from emails, phone calls and everything that pops up to take over your day and keep you busy. This is how your time seems to disappear. You often get to the end of the day wondering what you’ve achieved.

My mentor advised me to spend the first 90 minutes of the day working on my business. It was the best piece of entrepreneurial advice I ever received!

This concentrated period of time enables you to get so much more done. You need to make sure there are no interruptions from email, ‘phone, or anyone in the building during this time. Get a drink, turn off notifications and then set a timer. It helps to have one task that you need to complete. If you give yourself this focused time, you will have a huge chance of getting it done.

Implementing this advice has worked wonders for my business, and will certainly help yours.

What would you spend these 90 minutes on? Ideally it should be a marketing activity. Do not spend it on the minutiae of running your business! This is the time to be creative. It could be following up with lapsed customers and writing an email sequence. Maybe you can create something that will help to build your list of contacts, or design a new give-away. This is the time to write a Facebook Ad or script a video. You could contact clients and ask for a testimonial, craft a new programme or plan a promotion.

The real secret to making this a success is to make it a daily habit. As Aristotle said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.”

Firstly you have to want to change your behavior. You need to make the decision that this is important and you’re going to stick to it. As I say to my clients, you are the CEO of your business; the responsibility is yours alone.

Secondly, set a goal and plan to do it. If you think that this 90 minute focused chunk of time is a good idea, then put it in your diary now. Make it a non-negotiable appointment. The first 90 minutes of the day works best for most people, but whatever works for you, commit to it.

Some say it takes 21 days to form a habit. What is obvious is that if you do something that you enjoy and recognize as being valuable to your business, you are more likely to do it tomorrow.

If giving yourself an award helps, then do it. But I can think of few rewards that feel as good as when you achieve something that you know will take you nearer to success.

If you’ve been finding that your days slip by without getting nearer to your goals, then try putting aside a chunk of quality time to work on them. If you can start by doing that today, you will be astounded by the results. Whatever else happens in your day, these 90 minutes will quickly build a successful business.

2020-11-06

Categories: Challenge, Goals, Forward, Coaching, Creating, Planning, Business, Entrepreneur