207: Entrepreneur Top Requirements

<p>There are many things which impact an entrepreneurs success.  Today we are going to look at mastering three things which can have a definite positive impact.</p> <p> </p> <p>Usually, when we think about how to succeed in our own business, we favour things like sufficient cash flow and capital.  This is absolutely true, but this is a product of decisions we have already taken.  We need to focus on the core drivers of the company's success.  There will be certain businesses where technology alone makes it work, but these are rare.  For the rest of us to be successful, we need three critical skills:  the ability to master our time, to clone ourselves and to be persuasive.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Time</strong></p> <p>How we spend our time is the most high value resource we have.  More than money, it makes or breaks our business.  Poor time control leads to inefficiency, wasted efforts, stress and missed opportunities.  Entrepreneurs are geniuses at trying to do too much. This means they are run ragged with time demands and no good solutions.</p> <p> </p> <p>This has to be turned around and time gotten under firm control. Start with a simple audit of where you allocate your time now.  Create a spreadsheet and track your time usage in 30 minute blocks for a week. Brace yourself for a huge shock.  Next compile a list of what needs to be done by you and rank the items in order of importance.  Compare the time audit reality with your prioritised task list of what you should be doing.  You can’t be bothered doing this?  Wake up!  When you do this analysis, the gap between where you are now and where you need to be will be massive. </p> <p> </p> <p>Take your list and this mantra:  “I can’t do everything on this list everyday but I can do the most important thing”.  Each day take that list and re-work the order, deciding the number one priority for your business and complete that.  Next, you take number two and work on that, etc.  If something crops up, well change the priority order, but stick to the discipline of doing