Are you finding that there's just not enough time in the day to accomplish all that needs to be done in your acupuncture business?
Are you neglecting parts of your business because of the lack of time or expertise?
I'm going to talk about how to give yourself
Superpowers to accomplish all your tasks.
I love what I do. Nothing is more rewarding to me than being able to
"help people who are really helping people."
And as Jasmine grows, which I'm eternally
grateful to my supporters for, the list of things to be done also grows. At times, I'll feel overwhelmed with the ever growing task list.
Especially, when I drop the ball on tasks that I know need to be done, but are neglected for either not having enough hours in the day or being low on the totem pole of tasks.
Have you felt like this?
Don't you wish you had Superpowers?! I do.
Acupuncturists are a resourceful bunch with many different skill sets. I've seen acupuncturists take on tasks like designing their own logo, building their own website, etc...
Being a jack of all trades is one of the reasons why you took on the insane challenge of starting your own business.
Mad props!
In the beginning, you need to be a DIY expert, especially for first time business owners. I did this. Starting out, you don't know what you don't know, so you need to learn every aspect of your business.
Once you learn what needs to be done in your business, your job as a business owner it to make yourself
obsolete as quickly as possible. What I mean by that is that you need to start
delegating low value tasks to free up your time to work on high value tasks, those that will
grow the business.
If you don't do this, your business growth will stall.
Here's what I doing to start delegating my work and it might be useful for you too.
Value Your Time
First, put a dollar value on what an hour of your time is worth. The easiest way to do this is to use how much you charge for an hour with a patient.
This is the
most important step, because it will help you distinguish between low value tasks and high value tasks.
You'll also realize that when you're doing low value tasks, you're devaluing your time.
Make a List. Check it Twice.
The next step is to spend the next week writing down a list of the different tasks you do. ie. scheduling appointments, treating patients, washing towels, etc...
After the week, then write down any additional tasks you know you should be doing but aren't. This could be stuff like, writing blog posts, social media, advertising, etc...
Once you're done, look through it and assign "high value" and "low value" next to each one. The low value tasks will become your list of possible things to delegate and outsource.
Another way to look at "high value" vs "low value" tasks is to distinguish between tasks that grow the business and those that don't. Or, the ones, you enjoy doing vs those you don't.
Outsource
Now we're ready to outsource! Pick a simple task that you feel comfortable having someone else do.
Mentally, letting go of tasks can be difficult, especially since you've been doing it for so long and the thought of paying someone to do it is uncomfortable.
This is where the first exercise of valuing your time is important. If your time is valuable, you'll be limiting your growth by spending time on low value tasks.
Now that you have your simple "low value" task, it's time to find someone to do it for you.
I've been using a freelancer website called
Upwork.com, another well known one is
freelancer.com. A Google search will give you a list of the different services.
Treat this as an experiment! Start slow with a freelancer on one simple task and expand as you become more comfortable.
If you're interested in how I've used
Upwork.com, let me know and I'll write another blog post about it.
Questions? Let me know in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you.
Minto Tsai
Founder
P.S. If this helped you, please Like, Share, email... all the social network love you can give!
