Maximising Time Management for Profit and Freedom in Business
Embark on a journey exploring the intricate dance between time management, profitability, and personal fulfilment in the realm of business. Discover the secrets to balancing work demands with family time, making strategic hiring decisions, harnessing the potential of software automation, and aligning business goals with personal aspirations for holistic success
The Bucketlist Accountant: Because financial freedom shouldn't mean sacrificing your wildest dreams.
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This podcast was produced by 'Podcasts Done for You' https://podcastsdoneforyou.com.au
Transcript
But it is, you know, part of the approach that you take.
[:So I think there's It's a hugely important element of what we're trying to achieve is, is understanding there's probably the three elements, profit, cash flow, and, and freeing up a business owner's time to enjoy what that profit and cash flow can bring for them.
[:But. It's, there's more involved to it than that because in order to get to that space, there are things that you might have to invest. , there are people that you might have to bring on board. All of those things dictate that element, don't they? They dictate the decision making process to get to that goal of time.
[:Do they want to be able to work four days a week? Do they want to be able to work, you know, two days a week? You need to understand what their thought process is because based on that, you'll need to build different elements into their business. So if they want to take a three month chunk off every year and be away from their business, then we really need to build a robust.
structure and system and have the right people in place to allow the business owner to confidently leave for three months and know that they can come back and everything is just going to be running smoothly. The benefit we've got today is that whilst you're away, it's still very easy to keep on top of how your business is performing.
You can get to see how the numbers are looking and, even though you're away. So you may have Like an hour a week while you're out of the business, but you can still get a feel for how the business is performing and still couldn't be on top of it. , in the past, that's been harder to do just with lack of technology.
But if the business owner wants to be only working four days a week instead of five, then that creates a different set of, skills that we need to bring in. Because you're away for a shorter period of time, but it still means that you have to, you know, Build elements into the business to allow you to do that on a regular basis and not get drawn back into the business
[:Isn't it that there is a synchronous relationship between um cash flow profit and time isn't there and and it's it's you know, you have to dictate where you Spend the money in order to free up time Other things, isn't it? It's they have to work together.
[:And so it just, it, it just, It makes it easier to make the decisions and there are elements that can change over time as well. You know, so different times, if you've, if you've got a young family, time for them when they're younger becomes important because you've only got that opportunity once. So you want to be able to make sure that you can take time out of the business when you need to, to, to, uh, enjoy those moments.
Um, because, you know, my kids are now older, those opportunities are gone. So if you haven't taken advantage of them at the time, it's not like you can get, it's not like you can make the decision to say, well, once I get the business to this point, I'll start to enjoy those things because those things are gone.
So that's where it's really, really important to understand what is important to you. You can then make those decisions. Decisions to make sure that you achieve those in those important life moments.
[:That took two hours out of my day. Um, You know, and it was really five days a week having to do that, but it's a, it's an opportunity that you don't get back and it's a decision that you make, , in, in regards to the business and understanding that it might impact some of those elements, but there's a reason for doing it.
[:But if you've, if you've built that in and, and, and being able to do that's important. You build it into the whole process. That negativity won't come into play at all because you, you know, you understand that that's an important element and, and you just mold everything else around it.
[: [: [:Uh, so not only compensates for the person that they've hired, but also brings in additional profit.
[:You've built the business to where you are today. And you've explored the option that you need to get someone else in, but the problem is that it's stepping you into the unknown and you're unsure as to what's going to happen. It, it then comes back to the importance of building those systems and structures into your business to know that you can bring this person in, they can get an appropriate level of training, they can hit the ground running.
Um, and then it does allow you to free up the business owner the time to free up To move on to the next step of, of what it takes to grow their business. Um, time and time again, you see it. The hardest part of that process is making the decision to hire the person. Once you hire the person and the person's in, boom, away you go.
And more often than not. A business owner will look back and go, gee, I wish I'd have done that sooner. Um, you know, it, it, it's that, that's been the way it is for, you know, probably ever since time began that the hardest part of it is to make the decision and to make the commitment.
[:I've, uh, had an assistant for a long time, that assistant, um. Um, left, um, unfortunately, um, was unwell and had to resign and there was a period of time that I had where I didn't have one and the first week or two was kind of like, Oh, do I really need to hire someone again? Maybe I can survive. By week three, I was like, Oh my goodness, now I completely understand why I had this person.
Let's get someone new quick, smart, because, um, it's really amazing how much you find that those people do. Yes, you were doing those jobs before, but now when you've got someone acting in that space and it's freed you up to do a whole lot of other things, and then sometimes it isn't until you have a circumstance like that, that you suddenly go back and realize, hang on.
I actually don't have time to do all the stuff that I was doing because I'm now doing this other, this other stuff that is important, but it isn't important that I do it.
[:And I guess, you know, hiring that person and trusting yourself and trusting the business that you've built, that it can cope with it and grow with it. Yeah.
[:Is it ultimately going to deliver you a profit? What is it actually doing? And they're things that you want to be involved with, right?
[:Things are getting done more effectively. Um, they think it's great. And, and the software, the, the, the time that's freed up for me is just phenomenal. And I know for both of them, I am denied for quite a period of time going, Oh, do I really need it? I'm sure I can, you know, I just do this, or if I just do that.
I don't need to incur the cost, but again, once you make the decision and it's in place and it's running, you kind of go, wow, how did I, how did I ever do this without it?
[:of things that exist that require extra effort and attention. And we think, Oh, we want to save a little bit of money and do that. You know, I've always been fond of the expression, you pay for what you get. And, um, it's not until you start paying for some of these things that you realize that the small amount extra, sometimes it can be a bit, a big bit extra, but, um, has a value.
And it's important to measure that though, isn't it? It's important to, to not just, you know, it's, there is, you know, when it's working, when you have, as you say, a sense of relief, but there is at a point where you also have to measure it and, and make sure that you are getting the dollar value.
[:And, and because these days, mostly, uh, these things are month to month kind of concepts. If you're not tracking and monitoring and making sure that they're working for you, you can be spending a lot of money for, for no reason. Um, but on the flip side of that, if you do monitor a new software installation and, and track it and make sure that it's performing, um, for you and your business.
If you get to a point where you realize it's not one of the benefits these days is most of these things a month to month You can just finish you can stop it. You don't have a huge outlay anymore for for software You don't have to pay in most cases large annual subscriptions or anything like that The flexibility that we've got these days to be able to Trial something and test something see if it's performing and then get rid of it.
It's a, it's a, it's a powerful way to be able to implement some of these things.
[:And we can say that from an emotional point of view, that it's It's important to spend more time with the family from a monetary point of view and trying to work out. Is it worthwhile? Do we, you know, realize that maybe our profits are not going to be as, as high because we're putting a value on family time?
[:And again, you know, kids, kids aren't young forever. You don't, you don't, uh, Get the opportunity to do those things forever. Um, and so, so some of these things you build into your business whilst again, may not necessarily increase your profit, potentially more importantly, it's freed up some of your time so that you can spend some more time with your family.
[:It's, it's understanding that relationship and where that works for you is such an important thing and something that you need to have a role with someone like yourself, um, to play, uh, to monitor that.
[:And, and it's the, the, the relationship between the three is different for everybody. You know, the, the, the, um, the goals or the, the vision of one business owner will be completely different to the other one. And what's important to one will be completely different to the other. So it's important to get a proper understanding of, of, the mix of those three things to you and what, what's important to you and, and, and working with that and not worrying about anyone else or not worrying about what they're doing or how they're performing, but getting an understanding of The, the things that are important to you within the business and, and within your family and making sure you're working towards achieving those, those goals.
[: [:external to us and he came in and saw me and he said the only way I can achieve the goals that they've set for me, so they'd set the goals, not him, is I have to employ a huge number of people. Um, and he said, I just don't want to do that. You know, that, that's not, that's not fitting in with, with what I want to do.
So we start, That with us started the conversation with him, you know, what is it you want to do? These are the things I want to do. Okay. So now he's He's got rid of him and we're focusing on that to make sure that we're we're doing things that are In line with what his goals are
