In a conversation the other day, I found myself saying that I wished I had a reset button. I wanted — needed — a redo. Of course, life doesn’t actually come with a reset button (though someone should work on that!).
When I went to bed that night, I was still thinking about that magical reset button. Why can’t we just hit reset? Start over. Let bygones be bygones.
While we can’t literally start over, we can metaphorically hit reset. And, so that’s what I’ve decided to do.
The concept applies to our personal and professional lives. Personally, have you and a friend drifted apart? Instead of just reminiscing and wishing things could be like the old days, hit resest. Commit to reconnecting and prioritizing the relationship. Start over from that moment.
Professionally speaking, the past year-and-a-half has been interesting for me. After a tough pregnancy, we spent two weeks in the NICU after the baby was born. Since then, I’ve been trying to figure out how to be a good mom and a good business owner. (Some days, I do better than others!) In that time, I’ve let some bad habits creep in. For example, I don’t check LinkedIn nearly as often as I should. This was abundantly clear when it took me three weeks to see a LinkedIn message from someone who was interested in hiring us. Oops! That’s a small example, but perfectly illustrates the problem.
As the owner of the company, one of my top priorities is business development. So, how well am I doing if I had a lead in my inbox that I never responded to? Clearly, not very well. Pre-baby, Geben grew 150% year-over-year three years in a row. Solid growth for a new company. During that time, most of my time centered on three core areas: client strategy, business development and relationship nurturing/building. (That last bucket is where I focused most of my time on social media as well.)
The past few months, I’ve found myself spending more time working “in the business” — meaning client-related work. The more time I spend “in the business,” the less time I spend “on the business.” Yet, it’s the “on the business” activities that will really help us thrive. When I focus “on the business,” I keep the new biz pipeline filled (critical!); I have the time and creative space to discover or dream up better, newer ways to approach traditional and digital PR (after all, that’s why clients pay us!); I can ensure clients receive a high-level of service; and that we’re staffed appropriately to exceed their expectations. Plus, I can take care of the business admin (aka necessary evils), like forecasting, profit margin and budgeting.
I imagine many entrepreneurs share my fear of letting go. Knowing when to delegate … and then actually delegating. But, if we’re hiring the right people, training them appropriately, and providing ongoing mentoring/coaching, then what’s the problem? Turns out, we’re the problem. We’re the ones prioritizing our time “in the business” instead of “on the business.”
It seems that I need a reset button for how I’m running my business, too. Starting today, I’m refocusing my efforts and being hyper-mindful of how I’m spending my time. This isn’t a “cold turkey” exercise. After all, I love being in the trenches … I just have to be careful about how much time I’m spending there!. Instead, I will be more vigilant about delegating, teaching my team instead of me just doing something myself, and blocking out chunks of time on my calendar specifically to focus on the business.
In the time it’s taken me to write this post, a reset button still hasn’t been invented … sadly. This is as close as it gets. So, consider this my reset and my first step to being a better business owner — progress that will benefit our team and clients alike.
Photo credit: Steve Snodgrass