To successfully grow your business – and by successfully, I mean in a sustainable, profitable, less than 80 hours per week way – you must achieve Mastery in 4 key areas of your business and life…
- Time
- Destination
- Delivery
- Money
Take a look at these 4 areas and do a quick self-assessment to see how you are performing in each.
1 – Time Mastery
The most important area of mastery is Time/Self Mastery. Why? Because time is something you can never get back. Once a moment is gone, it is gone forever.
I have covered many aspects of Time Mastery in other posts, but in a nutshell, you need to become great at establishing the priorities in your life and making intentional choices about what activities to perform in the time available.
There will always be more to do than enough hours in the day, so it is all about deciding which activities get priority at any given moment.
There are two ways things can go – we either let the world decide what our priorities are, or we choose to set our own.
2 – Destination Mastery
The clearer the picture you have of where you want to go and who you want to be, the more likely you can do what is necessary to get there.
Have you written down your dreams, and shared them with your spouse/partner?
How often do you review them?
What about your yearly goals, which are the steps along the path to your dreams?
Research has shown again and again that those who write down their dreams and goals, review them regularly, and share them with others will achieve significantly more than those of you who do not.
Knowing where you are going and where you want your business to end up will help you make better decisions along the way.
3 – Delivery Mastery
Delivery Mastery is the practice of ensuring that you and your team can deliver products and services consistently over time. There is no sense improving your sales and marketing if you do not have the capacity to deliver higher quantities of products and services without a loss in quality level.
There is nothing worse for a business than selling more than you can deliver. The effort to please everyone often ends up pleasing no one.
Half of your business is earning new clients, the other half is delivering quality products and services to your clients. You cannot afford to short-change this part of your business if you intend to grow.
4 – Money Mastery
This is the most tedious area for many entrepreneurs, but you’ve got to know your numbers. This includes a complete cash flow budget for your business, with sales and profits, not just expenses. You must plan where every penny is going to come from and where every penny is going to go.
In addition, you need to understand your financial reports – the 3 basic reports to master are your Profit & Loss Statement (also known as Income/Loss Statement), your Balance Sheet, and your Statement of Cash Flows.
Money mastery also includes managing your accounts receivable and payable (on your Balance Sheet), and having a collection system in place that ensures that you get paid when you deliver your products and services.
When you are ready to take the next step towards achieving a sustainable business that supports your lifestyle goals, do a deeper dive into these four areas and identify the improvements you need to make so that your success can be enjoyed for many years to come.
Author: Mark McNulty, Business Coach in Louisville, KY