Entrepreneurs suffer from what John Maxwell calls the Law of the Lid. This law says that the entrepreneur is the cap on what can be accomplished. In other words, he or she is the bottle-neck of their own business. Most entrepreneurs I know suffer from some version of this. The truth is just because you can do it better doesn’t mean that you should.
There is one particular conversation I have had with my wife about 4 times now. We had it again just last week.
I want to hire someone to come and clean the house. She doesn’t like to clean (though she does a great job), and I want to free her up so she can spend her time on other things. Seems like a no-brainer, right?
The problem is she doesn’t want a house-cleaner. She stays home with the kids, so she feels like it is part of her responsibility to clean the house.
What I think she is missing is that our family would run better if she spent her time on the most important things. My guess is that if I asked her to make a list of the most important things, physically cleaning the house wouldn’t be on it. Spending time with our kids would be on the list. Volunteering in their schools would be on the list. Working out and taking care of herself would be on the list. Have more time for the things that matter – that is the real benefit of a house cleaner.
The same is true in your business. What is it that you are doing that you shouldn’t be doing?
Every business owner (all of you CRE brokers are business owners) should achieve virtual freedom by following these 4 simple steps.
4 Simple Steps to Achieve Virtual Freedom and Build Your Team:
1. List all your tasks over the course of a week – If you’ve ever kept a food diary, you get the idea. List everything that you do. Everything. Check emails. Return calls. Create marketing package. Prospecting calls, etc. You are going to have two reactions. First, you will be surprised at all the things you do. Second, you will also be shocked at all the time you waste.
2. Decide which tasks are the most important – Important tasks aren’t always urgent. They are normally high dollar activities. Prospecting activities. Creating presence in your market. Investing in your team. These are the most important things.
3. Delegate anything that anyone else can do – Or ask yourself, which of these tasks are the ones only I can do? Everything else becomes a job description for someone else. Keep in mind here what you are worth an hour. If you don’t know, you should.
4. Consider virtual assistants – I get that some of you don’t have teams. For you, I would consider virtual assistants. I have used them and highly recommend. There are thousands of exceedingly qualified free lance virtual assistants who can do anything from research your prospect list, create marketing packages, graphic design, even managing your email (doesn’t that sound awesome!)
Here are some recommended books and websites to check out, if the idea of virtual assistants has tickled your fancy.
1. Virtual Freedom: How to Work with Virtual Staff to Buy More Time, Become More Productive, and Build Your Dream Business by Chris Ducker
2. The Virtual Assistant Solution: Come up for Air, Offload the Work You Hate, and Focus on What You Do Best by Michael Hyatt. This is a really quick read and is only $2.99 on Amazon. This ebook will open your mind about what is possible with a virtual assistant.
3. Upwork (formerly Elance.com) – This is the site I’ve used most often – especially for graphic design work, copywriting, typesetting, etc.
4. 99Designs – This is a super cool site. You can submit a contest for anything from a logo (I’ve done this twice), to all kinds of other website and graphic design needs. You submit the project, and dozens to hundreds of freelancers compete to win the business. It produces great results.
5. Belay.com – This is the creme de la creme when it comes to virtual assistants. They are more expensive than overseas VA’s, but they are all professionals and English speaking. Plus, the EAHelp staff does extensive interviews and vetting to make sure they pair you up with the perfect VA. They are pure pros.
Brokers Who Dominate – 8 Traits of Top Producers offers the strategies and tactics, marketing approaches, prospecting platforms and support structures of some of the most successful commercial real estate brokers in North America. Young Guns, Dominators and Game Changers share how they attained and maintain their dominate marketing position.
