TIME JUGGLER

[Karan]:  I was asked yesterday how, as a mother of two very young children, and a business owner, did I manage my time: how did I get everything done? 

I would hasten to point out that the question could have been equally asked of Ian, as a father of two young children and a business owner; as the dilemma is ours together and not mine alone.  Ian struggles as much as I do to make and find quality time with the children, whilst also focusing on our ambitions for the business.  Needless to say it's far from easy.

My answer to Claire's question yesterday began with me telling her I've given up on the crazy sleep habit I had become accustomed to prior to having children, and prior to our business really moving up a gear, and beginning to grow significantly. 

I then explained that, as I'm more productive in the morning, that I will get up as early as necessary to complete important tasks before "The Stuff of Days" kicks in.  By getting up early and before everyone else, I am able to apply concentrated effort for 90 minutes (2 hours maximum) - without interruption or distraction - and get a whole lot more done, as it really focuses the mind.  If you follow the principle that work will expand to fill the time available, you have to limit the time available with deadlines; and then stick to them!

I have learnt many new and more effective ways of working this year, thanks in no small part to Nigel Botterill, but one of my favourite methods is the following.  If you have a task to complete in e.g.: seven days, ask yourself this: if I had to complete this task in four days, or I would die, could it be done?  If the answer is "yes, but I'd have to work really hard, rescheduled this, postpone that and not watch TV for four days" well then, do it!  Nigel doesn't do flowery, but this method really works.  And remember, there's no point cheating, as you're only cheating yourself.  Push yourself harder and you'll be amazed by the outcome. 

The more routine and not-so-important tasks of the day can then be completed amongst "The Stuff of Days" like impromptu telephone calls and meetings etc.  I tend to leave the easier and not so brain-draining matters for the afternoon, when my energy levels are beginning to wane.  I do tend to have a second wind after the kids have gone to bed, but if I'm going to be up, about and productive early next day, there's no point burning the midnight oil.  But I do, as the routine and domestic stuff takes time too.

Claire and I swapped notes about how our houses aren't as clean as we'd like them, how in an ideal world we'd like more food in the fridge and who had the tallest pile of ironing.  At the moment Claire and I seem to be trading the same stuff, because with only one of us each, not everything gets done; we're prioritising on a day-to-day basis.  Throw in Christmas and we're both running around like our hair's on fire.  It can't all be done.  There are only 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week, and unless we're going to be cloned for Christmas, something's gotta give. 

Consider the VALUE of one of your working hours.  You can probably work out your hourly rate easily enough, but what value has it for you?  I attended a BNI meeting recently where a self-employed book keeper stood up and presented a case study: in essence, she had earned her client £10,000.  How?  By paying his book keeper £120 for keeping his books (funnily enough) and completing his quarterly VAT return, the client was able to dedicate his time to doing what he did best; sales and marketing.  As a result he was free to be in the right place at the right time to handle a sales enquiry that eventually became a £10,000 sale.  Would Claire's and my time be better spent growing our businesses and paying another entrepreneur to conquer the south face of our ironing piles, or ensuring we're not knee deep in dust when we get home?

Of course there is the expense of hiring someone to clean, iron and book-keep for you, but is it a false economy not to?  What else could you be doing, whilst this is being done for you?  Could these services be effectively earning you money, whilst assisting the growth of your business?  These are questions I am going to ask myself early in the New Year, as we have big plans for 2011 - which is going to take a lot of my time and energy - and I'm not going to allow pesky laundry to sabotage them! 

FATAL SALES FAIL

Loss or Opportunity?

[Karan]:  I've had an interesting couple of days in which I have experienced two completely different attitudes towards exactly the same problem, and I'm now ruminating about the likely outcome of each.

We have been a customer of a local supplier, who I shall refer only to as Tired Incorporated, since we began trading in 1992; a very long time ago.  You might consider us a very loyal customer of Tired Inc after all these years, and we used to place quite a bit of business their way, as they were friendly, dynamic and helpful.  They might not always have been the cheapest supplier of their stuff, but they were pleasant to trade with and we always try to stay as local as we can.

On Tuesday I had a sales enquiry for a widget, and referred to Tired Incorporated's price list, which was still dated July 2007 despite repeated requests for the revised editions.  I thought I'd have another go and spoke directly with the new Sales Manager whose response was: "...every time we try to publish a new brochure, a manufacturer or two will change their stock and/or prices, rendering the brochure out-of-date and inaccurate, so we just [infrequently] email you the changes".  Hmmm, okay, fair enough point about the pricing etc, but what are the likes of IKD to do when trying to find the price and availablility of a widget?  The answer was: "...give us a call".   Hmmm, okay, but what if I need a price outside of your hours of business?  Well, we can all guess the answer to that, can't we?

On Wednesday Ian and I went to a trade exhibition, where we were introduced to a new supplier of  widgets, who now represent direct competition to Tired Incorporated. During our discussions, their Divisional Sales Director offered us a very large and heavy duty ring binder, full of professionally printed loose leaf pages, complete with all relevent stock, price and discount codes and product specifications etc.  It was explained to us that "...every time we try to publish a new brochure, a manufacturer or two will change their stock and/or prices, rendering the brochure out-of-date and inaccurate, so we created this in addition to offering you live online stock levels and a 24 hour online ordering facility".  Hmmm, now we're talking!  Obviously as stock, price and discount codes change in the future, Extraordinary Inc. will update the binder pages accordingly, but will also email us the changes as a fail safe catch all, ensuring that we are fully equipped with all of the latest developments to help us sell their products!

The online stock level checker and 24 hour ordering facility is just brilliant, and obviously affords us bang up-to-date information and greater ordering flexibility than ever before, from this section of the industry.  So who with me can now predict the future for poor old Tired Incorporated?  They've allowed themselves to be defeated by an easily surmountable problem; all it would take is a little ingenuity and willingness because, let's face it, a heavy duty ring binder with loose leaf pages is not rocket science, is it?  There may be costs incurred to activate this solution, but how much sales revenue are they loosing because they haven't - this is a false economy!

Tired Incorporated, and others I could mention who operate like them, would do well to remember that their customers, like IKD, are having to work extra hard in this climate to succeed, and are unlikely to work even harder than that, and unnecessarily so, when a better, faster, cheaper and more accurate alternative is available from their competitor(s).  My advice to Tired Incorporated is the same as it continues to be for ourselves, and something we are constantly mindful of: adapt or die, because if you're not growing your business, your business is shrinking - as a wise man (aka Nigel Botterill) once told me.

HOW TO DRIVE A DEADLINE

Deadlines. Don't you just love them?  No, me neither, but they're a way of life.  In some ways though deadlines are a good thing, and can be used to your full advantage - if you know how to drive them.

Everyone knows what it's like preparing to go away on holiday.  Aren't you amazed by your capacity to get everything done in the days and weeks before your plane takes off, your boat sets sail or the ice starts to melt in your drink?  The sense of urgency is tangible because you have a non-negotiable immovable deadline to meet; your choice is simple: get your stuff done, or you don't go.  It's a wonderful motivator, and invariably your deadline is met and your plane takes off with you on board.  Fraught and exhausted you may be, but you're on board.

In the weeks and months prior to your holiday, you have applied concentrated effort to getting yourself out of the rat race for a fortnight; and concentrated effort is infinately more valuable than ordinary effort.  So why not apply this pre-holiday concentrated effort to your everyday deadlines?  You'd be sure to meet them then.  I don't doubt you would probably be just as fraught and exhausted, but you would have achieved your deadline.  Aren't the rewards worth the concentrated effort?

Another great motivation technique I have learnt recently, courtesy of Nigel Botterill, is this.  If your life depended on it, could you achieve _____________ by ______________ ?  Be serious.  If you had to achieve X by Y or you'd die, could you do it, could it be done?  If, under such extreme conditions, you could do it, or it could be done, well then go and do it!

Napoleon Hill gives us another deadline driving lesson in Think & Grow Rich, which is this.  Burn your boats.  Burn your bridges.  Win - or perish.  Stake everything.  Give every breath.  Fight to the last inch.  Refuse to fail.  Expect to succeed. 

These two philosophies, from Nigel Botterill and Napoleon Hill, are the main driving forces behind the deadline Ian and I have set ourselves, for opening our kitchen showroom to the public during August Bank Holiday weekend.  In 15 short weeks [gulp].  And open it shall be, because we have said so publicly - and even more publicly since this blog was published!  We have burnt our bridges.  We have committed ourselves to Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 August 2010, and we will meet that deadline with bells on.

We have been promising ourselves a kitchen showroom for more than three years now and it just hasn't happened.  We didn't give ourselves any sense of urgency, until a few weeks ago when we decided it would be in the best interests of the business to get this done.  We had been guilty of being world class at getting ready, and the business needed us to apply concentrated effort.

There's a hell of a lot of work to complete before Saturday 28 August, in addition to our daily work schedule, evening sales appointments and family commitments, but it will be done because we expect to succeed and will refuse to fail.  We may be fraught, exhausted and propped up on brooms during our Grand Showroom Opening, but we'll be proud and happy too.  This entirely self-imposed deadline is going to help us achieve a long-standing goal, we just had to clear the head trash and get on with it.

So, there you have it.  IKD Kitchens Bedrooms & Bathrooms will be opening a new kitchen showroom on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 August 2010.  Please drop by and say "hi" as we'd love to see you - why not bring a friend along?  We may even have some wine and Horlicks on the go!  Click here for directions and we'll look forward to seeing you in August!

In the meantime however why not see your deadlines as challenges rather than chores - have you seen what Jack Bauer can achieve in 24 hours?!  What do you mean he's not real?  For God's sake no one say that in front of Ian - he's something of a fan(atic).

PS: Jack never gives up either, does he?