As an executive coach, my role is to help the leader develop the habit of working “on” the business more than “in” the business.
Part of our first conversation each time we meet is to ask how they are working on the business. It keeps them focused and far more productive.
Most agree that this is helpful and can sometimes be difficult to separate the two.
It is time to start working on your business.
Definition of on versus in
Working IN your business is anything that is a job: execution, yes, but also the management of the execution. Working IN your business refers to those day-to-day activities that could be entrusted to someone else.
Working ON your business, however, includes anything strategic: business strategy, marketing strategy, sales strategy, product development, research, and the vision and decisions that live in the C-suite. As you start up or launch new products, it also includes creating systems that make the business run better.
Working on your business is the key to breaking away from the suffocating condition of doing everything yourself. It creates a company that does not depend on you and consistently generates the results you want without you having to deliver them personally.
How to work on your business
- Hire the right employees – Hiring and training the right employees is intimidating, but it is essential for growth. With proper training, an employee can oversee everyday responsibilities freeing up the leader to focus on growing the business and cultivating new clients.
- Assess the tasks you are doing and make sure they are the best use of your time. For example, office supplies and decor. Your time is valuable.
- Intentionally choose three things to do a day before doing anything else. This will force you to pick only the most essential things to do.
- Seek to work yourself out of a job by delegating, hiring, and outsourcing non- essentials. Most of us start by doing 100% of the work ourselves. Look at specific roles like customer support, website design and development, writing, or any other role you could assign to others.
- Get clarity about where you want to go with your business and why you want to go there. Write down goals. For example, is it to make $___ per month? Retire at ___ age? Make a meaningful impact on your community or a person?
The words you write down matter because if that wise, perceptive part of you does not buy it, you will be back IN the business again in the future. So be clear about where you want to go and why.
The Bible
Of course, the Bible has much to say about working ON your business.
First is to acknowledge that you cannot do it all. That would be working IN your business. Leaders need humility to acknowledge they need help, to delegate, and to trust their employees. None of these are easy. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Second, do not be timid. Growing companies need strong leadership. How can you be humble and bold at the same time? 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.” And Matthew 7:12 says, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
God gave business leaders the skills necessary to build a business. But those skills are to glorify God, and one way to glorify God is to deploy those abilities efficiently and appropriately.
Do not let the minor details of routine tasks get in the way of using those abilities. Instead, learn to delegate, keep your eye on the big picture and let the Holy Spirit help discern what is essential and what is not.