Hey there!
As an entrepreneur, you've probably already heard about the difference between working IN your business and working ON it and the prominence you should give to the latter to scale your business efficiently.
So in this week's episode, we're going to see the difference between these two types of work, why you should absolutely find the time to work ON your business, and how you can do that!
The difference between working IN your business and working ON your business
Let's start by determining the differences between the two:
Working IN your business corresponds to the execution of the tasks that make your business run: creating your products/services, marketing them, doing sales activities, taking care of the customer service, doing courses, hiring and onboarding new employees, etc.
Working ON your business, on the other hand, encompasses anything strategic like clarifying the vision of your business, determining the priorities, setting goals, planning, budgeting, creating systems and processes, doing research, finding collaborations and partnerships, devising your business, marketing and sales strategy, etc. It's all about high-level thinking.
The importance of working ON your business
Focusing only on the execution and not on the strategy in your business can have a lot of consequences:
You risk doing many things inefficiently because you don't have the right processes, tools, strategies, or people to do them.
You might do things that are not useful because you don't have a clearly defined vision or clearly set goals.
You don't know what your priorities are. So you spread yourself thin trying to do it all without getting satisfactory results.
You can't scale your business efficiently and rapidly.
All of these consequences can ultimately make you feel exhausted because you're doing too much without having good results.
Let's just say you should definitely try to work more ON your business, both for your sake and your business's!
How to work ON your business effectively
1. Define the tasks that correspond to each type
The first step is to determine which of your tasks fall into the "working IN your business" and which ones fall into the "working ON your business." I already listed a few examples. But make sure your list is as detailed as possible. For example, instead of writing "marketing", list ALL the tasks you do that are inherent to marketing, like writing blog articles, creating posts and interacting on social networks, etc.
Keep that list handy because you'll use it to plan your working-on-my-business sessions (see below)!
2. Determine when you'll work on your business
You might prefer to do short weekly sessions to work on your business or longer monthly or quarterly ones. You decide what works best for you.
Just make sure you block these moments in your calendar and take this time to work on your business. Try to limit distractions as much as possible and entirely focus on strategizing.
3. Plan your CEO Day (or Hour)
Whether you decide to do a working-on-your-business session (called CEO Day from now on 😂) once every week, month, or quarter, it's important to plan what you'll do during these sessions to make the most out of them.
If you use a productivity tool like Notion, I suggest creating a template with these steps and questions. This way, you'll always know what you have to do.
Here is an example of what a monthly CEO Day could look like:
Take stock
Review your finances (and finalize your books if it's the end of the month).
Analyze your stats (website traffic, social media stats, newsletter subscribers, etc.).
Review your goals and your accomplishments.
Write a report of the past week/month/quarter (accomplishments, learnings, feelings, etc.).
Plan
Budget for the next month/quarter.
Determine your priorities.
Set new goals.
Make a to-do list of all things you have to do and plan them in your calendar.
Plan your social media content.
Don't forget to celebrate your hard work and successes!
Also, once or twice a year, I suggest doing some more in-depth review of the following elements:
Your organization system (processes, tools, strategies, people)
Your vision and your why
Your business positioning and message
Your ideal client
Your offers and rates
Your business, marketing and sales strategy
4. Take action
Make sure you apply and follow through with whatever came up during your CEO Day. If you do a monthly or quarterly session, take a few minutes every week to do a mini-review of your week (especially the progress on your goals).
Ultimately, spending time working ON your business will help you bring in more results with less stress and hustle. So make sure you take the time to become the badass CEO and strategist you were born to be!
And if you need help making more time to work ON your business, my coaching program Naturally Productive might be for you! You can book a free discovery call so we can see whether it's a good fit or not!
I wish you a zenly organized week,
Sarah