Business Growth and Productivity Lecture

Introduction

• Objective: Tactics to make businesses more money; dispel myths about hard work.
• Question: Do you believe hard work is necessary to make money? Reality check on this belief.

Definition of Work

1. Common Misconceptions

   • Work equals force x distance (scientific definition, not useful for knowledge workers)
   • Time on clock (input time)
   • Effort (how hard you try)

2. Actual Definition

   • Work = Outputs
   • Outputs = Volume x Leverage
   • Focus: More volume or higher leverage

Improving Work Efficiency

1. Formula

   • Work = Volume x Leverage / Time
   • Maximize output per unit of time.

2. Volume and Leverage Examples

   • High/Low output situations based on volume and leverage.

Inputs That Grow Your Business

Key points:

• More customers or higher customer value.
• Actions to get more customers: more traffic & higher conversion rates.
• Actions to increase customer value: raise prices, decrease cost of goods, increase frequency of purchase.

Specific Actions

1. Getting More Traffic

   • Advertise more and better
   • Excellence through repetition

2. Conversion

   • Practice sales, improve offer

3. Raising Prices

   • Be confident and rationalize the value

4. Purchase Frequency

   • Pre-payments, onboarding, appreciation events

Productivity Hacks

1. Volume Driven Advertising

   • Commit significant time daily (e.g. 4 hours/day) to scripting, analyzing, writing, recording, or reaching out.

2. Managing Time

   • Focus on maker time versus manager time
   • Maker Time: Uninterrupted blocks (4-6 hrs); low urgency, high importance
   • Manager Time: Short blocks to manage teams and tasks
   • Schedule managing and making time distinctly

Eliminating Distractions

1. Habits for Effective Maker Time

   • Work in isolated, interruption-free environments
   • Consistent sleep schedule
   • Treat weekends like weekdays for uninterrupted work time

2. Buying Time Back

   • Encourage outsourcing non-productive tasks (e.g. cleaning, cooking)
   • Highlight cost-effectiveness of outsourcing low-value tasks

Conclusion: Maximizing Output

• High effectiveness through focused efforts on essential tasks.
• Invest in yourself and eliminate distractions to gain more productive time.
• Focus on high leverage activities that grow your business.

Q&A Highlights

1. Work-Life Balance

   • Treat personal and professional life as one integrated system
   • Agreement with life partners on work-relationship boundaries

2. Review Business Constraints

   • Constraints typically fall into major categories (more leads, better conversion, etc.)
   • Easier solutions often exist if one takes the time to think.

3. Fitness Routine

   • Emphasize maintaining fitness after initial conditioning phase

4. Fun and Leisure

   • Personal time is often intertwined with business but occasional vacations are taken.

5. Effective Solutions

   • Use hypothetical framing to find more efficient solutions to problems.