Ever wondered what it actually means to work ‘on’ your business as well as working ‘in’ your business? You’re not the only one, so let’s break it down.
First, here are some practical distinctions to compare working ‘on’ and working ‘in’.
| Working ‘ON’ your business (relates to all your business planning) | Working ‘IN’ your business (relates to the doing and the implementation) |
| Making a plan and keeping it up to date | Implementing the plan |
| Preparing a budget or forecast | Measuring your actual results against that budget or forecast |
| Identifying risks in the business and how to avoid them | Implementing the ideas to eliminate the risk |
| Deciding how to structure and resource the business | Employing the team / external contractors and ensuring they’re doing the right things |
| Monitor overall performance and deciding how to improve | Implementing those ideas to improve performance |
| Deciding how to best finance the business | Arranging that finance |
| Reporting and communicating to owners | Reporting and communications to team and clients |
Now that the key differences have been explained, here are the five most important activities you should be doing with your business to drive success:
- Prepare a business plan and update it annually. Tip : Do this in the last month of your financial year or the first month of the new financial year
- Prepare a budget and forecast for the upcoming 12 months. Tip : Do this at the same time as you prepare your plan (and of course, review this annually too)
- Report against that plan and budget monthly
- Communicate the plan and the results to the owners and your team
- Meet monthly for 1 to 2 hours to review your progress, your numbers, your business structure and any risks and opportunities that exist to improve the business.
How much time should you set aside to work on your business?
Working on the business doesn’t need to be a full-time role, but you should make sure you’re allocating sufficient time each week to focus on it.
A good guideline is to be working on your business 1 to 2 hours each week, while allowing for a half-day progress check in each month to make sure you’re on track.
Also, set aside 1 to 2 days each year to go off-site and update your business plan and structure. Best practice is to get someone independent of your business to help you establish and maintain these regular disciplines and hold you to account to really improve your business.
What do you need to change to work more effectively ‘on’ your business?
If you need our help, get in touch.
“The business is there to serve you, not the other way round. You should not be a slave to your business” – Anon
