An Entrepreneur's To Do List

Hello Friends,

I worked at an insurance company for a brief stint. I think the only reason I was there was to learn this very important lesson on being an entrepreneur.

During one of the coaching sessions the regional manager made this statement; “do what makes you money during business hours”. An entrepreneur may not work the traditional 9-5 and thus must be aware of how time is spent. At the time I was also reading 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. In this book he says, “Do not prioritize your schedule. Schedule your priorities” (pg 161).

This was an important lesson. Employees tend to do things that are not vital to making money and are good for multi-tasking. An entrepreneur must be focused. An entrepreneur’s job is clear. Raise money. Always be raising money!

There are 3 “to do” categories that an entrepreneur’s tasks must fall under. They are marketing, converting, and closing. That’s it. Any task or activity must fall under one of these categories or it is not making you money. Period. I know, sometimes there’s some “thing” that “must” be done “now”. In that case, delegate. Whatever time you set to take care of a moneymaking “to do”, do not allow interruptions.

Let’s look at the 3 “to do’s” of an entrepreneur.

1. Marketing: any activity that spreads your message, mission, and/or mantra. This also includes growing your brand awareness and of course, customer acquisition/lead generating.
2. Converting: you have a lead and now you must turn them into a customer. This is when you re-enforce your marketing (message, mission, mantra), but it’s now focused on how you, your product, or service benefits them.
3. Closing: is when your lead is now a customer. You present your offer for acceptance. Negotiation may take place but this is where the details of the business are being done and you get the sale or the contract!

Paraphrasing Jim Rohn, if you have to work full time to make a living, then work part-time to build a fortune. Now that you have an idea of how to spend your time more effectively you can get faster and greater returns on your time invested.

Thanks
MikeCREI
“Building Wealth One Friend at a Time”