5 Things That Can Kill a Startup Business
Sometimes you may wonder how much of a sacrifice is required to build a new business.
Here are 5 things I chose to give up in order to get serious about growing my startup office cleaning business. Each activity took up an amount of my time and energy that was not used to grow my business. By cutting out these activities I have seen my business grow consistently from a start-up office cleaning business to include: house cleaning, window cleaning, and lawn care.
What did I give up or reduce?
1. Television – The average American watches about 34 hrs per week of TV (almost 5 hrs per day 7 days a week!). I was ‘hooked’ on cable news (See # 2 below). I went from nearly 2-3 hours per day to ZERO. That got me 15-20 hours of business growth work time per week.
2. Following the News – If you follow the news everyday it feels like a lot is happening in the world. However, if you randomly check in on the news once every few weeks you realize very little changes. In addition, I discovered even if I was aware of what was happening in the world; for the most part, I was powerless to do anything about it!
3. Facebook/Social Networks – Yes, I still go on Facebook but I have cut down my time on it immensely.
4. Computer/Video Games – I can honestly say that I am one generation beyond the ‘gamer’ generation. I am amazed at how many hours are spent in this ‘activity’ by young people who are constantly telling me that they just can’t get ‘ahead’ in life.
5. Unfocused Activity – Most of us have a variety of things we like to do. We might play sports, go biking, read, ‘putter’ around the house, etc. All of these may be fine, BUT, do you often wonder where all your time went and you seem to have nothing to show for it? Remember the old adage, ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.’ Fit your activities into your day; if they start to interfere with building your business, cut them back!