Does it run like the proverbial Greased Lighning?
If it doesn't then I predict it's been a while since you had a proper holiday. Even if you manage to get away, I suspect you have to check emails every hour or so just in case you've made a sale or had an enquiry.
And you've probably lost a few clients by not following up properly.
Am I getting close?
I know I am, because I've been there!
So let me tell you how to get out of your world of pain.
The key to being able to step back from your practice and treat it as a real business rather than a very expensive job(!) is to create systems.
Ultimately, you need to be in a position where, if you decided to take a month off, you could hand over to an assistant and everything would run smoothly.
So you need to set up processes - and you need to DOCUMENT them too, and FOLLOW them! - for each of the following at least
- prospecting
- marketing
- selling
- following up prospects
- following up incoming enquiries
- setting up new clients
- setting up sessions with clients
- following up after sessions
- invoicing
- payment collection
- dealing with invoices
You should also consider having processes for
- product or service design
- event planning
- dealing with incoming post
- anything else you do on a regular basis
Yes, I know, you left the corporate world to get away from processes and systems.
But those were other people's systems.
These are YOUR systems. ANd they're there to help you.
How? By making sure that things happen when they should.
Without it you'll eventually start to drop the ball. And you'll find it hard to grow, because every time you try, it HURTS!
So make things easy on yourself. Give yourself the opportunity to enjoy running your business once more.
You have to automate to accumulate.
'Til the next time
Rob
PS Don't forget - the Practice Explosion intro webinar is on 22nd September at 7pm EST. See www.practiceexplosion.com/webinar for details
PPS Also don't forget the live workshops are on 16/17 October in Toronto and 23/24 October in Montreal. Visit www.PracticeExplosion.com for details
