4 Ways to Work Smarter Not Harder in Biz | Women in Business

Are you ready to work smarter not harder in your biz? Let me ask you a question first.

Why is it that most business owners have a perception that if we work harder we will reach success faster? This leads to building more and more complicated products, creating elaborate sales funnels, piling up our to-do list and simply exhausting us. When this happens, we have less time to enjoy the freedom we have all dreamed of when seeing up our businesses.

The truth is, you don’t have to work harder. You simply need to become more intentional about how you work. This year, my working hours for my business were cut down by two-thirds as I became a stepmother overnight. This meant I needed to become more strategic and intentional in my business and learn how to work smarter.

So, here are 4 key ways I would like to share with you on how to work smarter and not harder to succeed in your business.

1- Outsourcing to Work Smarter Not Harder

I personally love outsourcing as it gives me time back that I would otherwise spend doing a task I either don’t enjoy or I am not great at. When you run a business, you must be strategic on the things you can and can’t do yourself. You need to be able to let go and allow others to do the tasks that are within their expertise.

Areas I prefer to outsource are: funnel building and automation, website updates and technical things, organization and bookkeeping/ accounting, graphic design, content creation and scheduling, and research. All of these tasks are the things that feel monotonous to me and don’t allow me to work in the areas I excel in. With the hours I get back, I can focus on client onboarding, sales calls, writing copy that attracts my ideal clients, and strategic work that helps push my business in the right direction. Building partnerships and collaborations that will move my business forward are all benefits for me outsourcing these tasks.

2- Focus on Strategic Goals to Work Smarter Not Harder

Before I became a step-mum to my 10 year old daughter, I used to spend so much time focusing on small tasks and doing things that did not move my business forward, because I had the time on my hands to do so.

Now, I mainly focus on the big picture. So every week and month I begin with setting some key strategic goals — what do I want to achieve? When I set my mind on the end goal, I work backwards on what needs to be done. Then I take very intentional actions which will help me get to that goal. This helps me save time on activities that create “time waste”, as well as keeps me away from shiny objects, the things that usually bring more distraction than adds value.

3- Learn to Say No to Work Smarter Not Harder

Not every opportunity is one worth pursuing and in fact, it’s not what you will say YES to but what you will say NO to that will make the biggest difference. When you become more strategic about your overall direction you will start to become clearer on the things you need to do within your business.

When opportunities present themselves I often ask myself — will this help me achieve my end goal? If I pursue this, how much time will it take? If I pursue this, what will I be trading? Every time you say yes to something, there is an opportunity cost. This means you are unable to pursue something else. Consider that as a real cost in your business because time is money.

4- Create Systems and Processes to Work Smarter Not Harder

I am a huge fan of systems and processes in my business. I very quickly learned that in business you need to create repeatable processes in order to improve your efficiency, but also to be able to delegate tasks and spend less time worrying about who is doing what.

With everything in my business, there is a set process of how we do things, so there is no wondering what to do or how to do it. My team members know the exact process to follow. Be it scheduling content, creating sales pages, writing email sequences or writing a blog post we are all on the same page.

The process is also built on systems that make everything run. We don’t spend every hour of the day checking payments or emails because a lot of these things are automated in the business. This saves us heaps of time and makes the decision-making process and actually running the business easier and more efficient. Some of my team members only touch base with me on a monthly basis, because they know exactly what they need to do and where to find everything in order to complete their set tasks. This takes a weight off of my shoulders because I know that my team has everything they need in order to succeed.

As an entrepreneur, be it a solo entrepreneur or someone looking to scale and grow your business with a team, follow these 4 tips and see how much more efficient your business will become. You will gain more time back to spend with your family and loved ones, make your business more profitable and enjoy running your business more because it will feel stress-free and easy.

Originally published at https://womeninbusiness.club.