There’s likely nothing more remarkable in your professional career than starting your own business. It’s a dream that many people pursue their entire lives. The idea is that you get to be your own boss and essentially have no one to answer to. (Well, almost. There’s always someone you’ll have to respond to; foremost, all your customers.)
Nonetheless, now that you’ve established your independence and left the corporate world behind, you’re free to pursue your dreams and do what you love most: running your very own business in the way you – and only you – see fit.
Despite the fun and joy you’ll experience, there are some tasks and chores that you can never stop doing, even when the business is your own. The following activities often fall between the cracks at the expense of others and can ultimately lead to stagnant or even faltering businesses.
Marketing
Marketing is a function that is often neglected and only attended to when there’s “time.” However, since there’s never enough time at a start-up, substantial marketing is hardly ever accomplished.
This is wrong in so many ways. Whatever you do in life, marketing yourself and your products/services should always be your top priority. Marketing is not just about promotions; it is more importantly about continually understanding your market and target audiences through research, designing new products and services that will be needed and wanted, pricing and packaging them so they can actually be sold, and marketing them in the right places through the most effective channels.
To ensure you don’t fall into this common trap, make it a point to set aside a specific number of hours each week dedicated to marketing activities. Two hours per day is ample time and should get the job done.
Business Development
This goes hand in hand with marketing. Of course, the more effective the former (marketing is, the less you have to do of the latter. However, working on developing and building long-lasting, profitable business relationships is a function that you will never be able to put aside as an entrepreneur.
Moreover, many people limit the concept of “business development” to recruiting new clients. This is not the case at all. What’s even more important than bringing in new clients is “retaining” those. Specifically, this refers to your efforts in generating repeat business from people who have already made a purchase with you and, as such, have a much higher level of trust in your brand and its values.
As with marketing, spending an average of two hours per day is a reasonable use of time. Remember that this encompasses searching for leads, holding meetings and pitches, writing proposals, and negotiating deals. So, it’s not excessive when you consider the workload associated with this role.
Working on Products and Services
This is why you started your business; to provide clients with products and services that surpass what’s available on the market. Yes, you likely have a small team of professionals working with you now, but you must always ensure that everyone aligns with your vision and produces the kind of work that inspired you to forge your own path in the first place.
Do some reading about the late Steve Jobs, for example. Despite Apple's enormous growth, Steve always dedicated a significant amount of time and effort to designing new products and services. There must have been hundreds of technical people working at Apple who were far more qualified, yet the most successful products Apple ever produced (i.e. iPod, iPhone, iPad, iTunes, etc.) were all creations that bore Steve's lasting imprint.
This should take about half of your daily available time. Even if there’s no shortage of resources, you need to stay involved to continue developing and advancing your own skills in your area of expertise. Among many others, your ongoing involvement in this field will also influence the direction of your marketing, business development, strategic thinking, and recruiting needs.
Contemplating the Future
This is a trap that many entrepreneurs fall into when things pick up and business starts to boom. They become complacent, thinking it will always stay that way. They stop worrying about the future and believe they’ve finally made it.
Once again, wrong! Just as you emerged from nowhere a few years ago and claimed your place in the market, someone else will do the same and stake a claim in your market now. This is why you must always stay ahead in the game and ensure your brand and products/services remain in the lead.
The best time to do this is during the early hours of the morning while you exercise. Even if you listen to music at full blast, allow your mind to wander into new and unexplored territories and unleash your creative thinking juices. The only thing you need to worry about is not letting your mind drift in the wrong direction and start thinking about various administrative problems you might be facing at work. This is certainly not the right time and place for those.
Looking for the best People
Your most important function as an entrepreneur is to constantly seek out people who are smarter and more capable than you. This is the only way to build a substantial company: by hiring the right individuals who can get the job done and then some.
A very successful CEO once said—when asked about what he perceives as his most important role in the company—that his sole job was to find and hire people who are smarter than he is. Think about it; how can your company grow beyond a startup without smart people? And what’s the point of having an army of people who need to be told what to do and how? It might feed the owner’s ego, but certainly not the company’s profits and value.
If you’re spending enough time on marketing and business development, your path will continue to intersect with individuals whom you’ll learn to admire and appreciate. This doesn’t mean that you can poach people from your clients, but as you meet more and more interesting individuals, consider how they would fit into your team and the value they could contribute. The beauty of this is that you don’t need to carve out any time for it. Constant headhunting is a default function, just as the heart keeps beating without any intervention needed from the brain.
Keeping the House in Order
This is a rather dull aspect of running your business, but it must be meticulously attended to nonetheless. After all, you are the legal guardian of your baby (your business), and as such, the responsibility of ensuring that all laws, rules, and regulations are observed at all times falls on you.
This includes chores such as filing taxes on time, complying with legal paperwork, obtaining vocational licenses promptly, ensuring social security payments are made timely, and so on. Since you’re personally liable and responsible for several of these financial and legal commitments the company has undertaken, you’re truly looking out for your own best interests as well.
Overall, many of these chores are annual and won’t take much of your time. Plus, you’ll likely have outsourced most of these tasks, so all you really need to do is stay alert and monitor what’s being done and when. However, relying entirely on external resources could lead to a significant mistake that may ultimately cost you a lot of time, frustration, and money.
Conclusion
Success as an entrepreneur doesn’t come from simply launching a business—it comes from what you keep doing, every single day. Marketing, business development, improving your offering, scouting talent, thinking ahead, and staying compliant are never-ending priorities. These aren’t side tasks—they’re core responsibilities that fuel long-term growth and keep your business ahead of the curve. You can’t delegate your vision—so stay engaged, stay strategic, and never stop building.
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