All of us procrastinate, some of us more than others. Running a business requires many things be done and we cannot possibly do everything at once. We have to prioritize our day and invest our time wisely. How do we know what to do right now?
SCORE interviewed Paul Bellows, CEO of Be Good at Doing Good, about some best practices on investing your time.
Start with the relationships you have with your customers, your employees, your vendors and strategic partners. The purpose of business is to create those relationships in order to generate profit. It is important to establish and reinforce the trust and loyalty needed with them to ensure your business is strong and financially sustainable.
Building strong relationships with your employees is important so they feel empowered and passionate about achieving your companyβs goals. They are the ones who provide maximum value to your customers, who in return, buy more, pay more and send you more business.
Finally, building strong relationships with your strategic partners is important because they share best business practices, create great opportunities and send you streams of business.
Having robust relationships with all of these people generates the greatest return on the time and money you invest.
We spend all our lives chasing the proverbial carrot, and the carrot continues to change. Maybe one day the carrot is a nice car, a better job or a bigger house. Then it becomes better health, deeper relationships or overall happiness. By focusing on building strong relationships now, you have a wonderful chance of catching your proverbial carrot.
There is no βsomedayβ to running your business well; there is only today. Do not wait to handle the difficult call with an unsatisfied customer β make it right and do it now. Do not wait until tomorrow to empower your employees, do it now. Do not wait to schedule a meeting with your strategic partners, do it now.
For more information on building the right relationships now, visit www.paulcbellows.com
