Strategy or Activity

Every business owner, whether new or experienced, knows that running a business can put a lot on your daily “To-Do” list. You spend your days fighting deadlines, making calls, getting things organized, making decisions, handling customers, tracking orders, not to mention trying to have a life outside of your business. At the end of the day, you wind up feeling drained and flat-out beat, but have you really accomplished much?

Running a business, be it a book store, an auto shop, or a thriving practice, puts a lot of demands on your time, physical energy, and brain power. However, planning and formulating strategies can help ease that burden. First, we must understand the difference between a strategy and an activity (or task.) Understanding these two separate distinctions can make the difference in how you plan your day, how you handle tasks, and ultimately determine the success or failure of your business.

So, what is the difference between strategy and activity? Quite simply, a strategy is a plan of action—how you are going to bring your ideas to reality. These are the goals you have for your business. You have a great new product idea, a service you are marketing, etc. These are strategies for generating revenue.

Activities are the means by which you work towards meeting those goals. These are the steps you take to get to your goals. Unfortunately, there are many activities such as bookkeeping, sales calls, supply pick-ups, and answering email inquiries that are required to operate a successful business. While these activities are necessary, not all of them will directly help you progress towards your goals. Not doing them might prevent you from staying in business, but putting too much focus on them can and will derail even the best strategy. It’s very easy to be sidetracked with day-to-day tasks that can ultimately delay or completely distract you from your goals.

A great marketing plan or new product design does no good if you do not have the time to implement or build it. If you allow yourself to become inundated with mundane (albeit necessary), time-consuming tasks that take your focus away from progressing towards your goals, then all the plans in the world won’t make your strategy or new product work. Ask yourself this question the next time you sit down to write out your “To-Do” list for the day: “Are these tasks going to help me progress towards one of my goals?” If not, can you delegate the task to someone else? Can you give it a lower priority?

If you’re struggling to separate core activities from non-core activities, try this little exercise:

1. Take three separate baskets, bowls, or other containers and label them Baskets A, B, and C.
   
   
2. Write each item from your to-do list on a separate piece of note paper (you could use sticky notes, or pieces of scrap paper, whatever you have available.)
   
   
3. Basket A should be those tasks which directly produce revenues, such as sales calls, product production, client work, etc. These should be the core tasks relative to earning revenues for your business (or bringing a new strategy to life.)
   
   
4. Basket B should be those to-do’s which indirectly produce revenues such as following up on leads, organizing production materials, etc. These should be important tasks, but only those tasks that are 1 or 2 steps removed from directly generating revenues or fulfilling your business
   strategy.
   
   
5. Basket C should be non-revenue generating, non-strategy related activities. These are those tasks that have to be done for your business, but don’t necessarily produce revenues or move you closer to your goals. Things such as bookkeeping, updating marketing materials (unless, of course, one of your goals or strategies is launching a new product or service), reading and responding to emails & other inquiries (other than direct customer communications) and the like.
   
   
6. Sort your to-do items into the three baskets based on their relevance to revenue-generation or strategy deployment.
   
   
7. Place Basket A items highest on your to-do list, then Basket B items, and so forth.

While mundane tasks such as bookkeeping, record keeping, vendor inquiries, and the like are all necessary to effectively operate your business, these activities won’t necessarily propel you towards the goals you have set for your business or generate any revenues for your business. Therefore, these tasks should be assigned appropriate priority so that your focus remains on the direction and vision you have for your business. Activities must be coordinated and prioritized based on how they incorporate into your business strategies. In this way, you can prevent wrestling with tasks and time-management issues that do not add to the value of your business.

Better yet, hire a Virtual Assistant or other professional to take over these mundane tasks so you don’t have to worry about them anymore! You’ll be pleasantly surprised how strategy and goal-focused your “To-Do” list becomes!

About the Author: Sandi Johnson is the Founder of Virtually Yours, LLC, a Virtual Assistant practice specializing in supporting creative professionals by taking over the administrative tasks sucking up their time & blocking their creative energy, thus enabling them to once again pursue their passion with zeal. Sandi is a member Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce, as well as managing editor for the Technology section of the VACOC’s weekly ezine, Gritty Business Buzz.

Copyright © 2007-2008 Sandi Johnson, Virtually Yours, LLC; all rights reserved. You may print this article for personal use, or republish it only if it is left unaltered in its entirety, with all links made active. If published, please email the author with a link to the article. Contact the author directly for other permissions.