You've probably heard that as the owner of a business, you should be spending more time working on your business vs. in your business, but what does this really mean? It appears to be a cliche that is accepted but not well understood. Let's take a look at what this means as a Broker-Owner and compare the ideal to the reality in today's brokerages.
Working In The Business
Working in your business means being a revenue-producing or revenue-supporting member of the team. Agents and Administrators work in the business with defined duties or tasks to maintain business operations and support growth. Those who work in the business typically know what is expected of them.
Working On The Business
Working on your business means designing, planning, and refining the business, but not directly producing revenue. It is to build value in the company and create the right environment and culture that inspires all team members to contribute and grow. It is one of the many responsibilities a Broker-Owner has and is arguably the most important.
The Reality
All too often Broker-Owners spend much of their time being reactive fighting fires instead of being proactive. Although the value of spending more time on growth-supporting tasks is understood, the reality is that a Broker's time is often divided between working in the business and on the business. Broker-Owners often get caught up on the day-to-day running of the business and don’t spend enough time planning and thinking about the future.
Certainly the maturity of the business plays a factor. As a start-up, it is understandable that a lot of time is spent working in the business. Due to limited resources, the Broker-Owner is usually the best person to be working in the business at the beginning stages. With time however, this changes as the business grows and achieves stability. Business experts advise that entrepreneurs should be spending at least 10% of their time working on the business.
Business experts advise...
Spend at least 10% of your time working ON the business.
Leverage Technology
As challenging as it may be, experts advise that business owners should allocate more time to working on the business in order to maximize their growth potential. Technology can help. By leveraging the right technology, efficiencies can be realized through automating routine tasks, reducing the time spent on business administration and mitigating the risk of fires related to operational errors.
iBroker, the simplified back office management solution for real estate, is designed to do exactly this. iBroker integrates with leading software to streamline your office administration processes and save you time. From listings management to transaction management, A/R, A/P, reporting, recruiting, and much more, iBroker has the tools needed to save you precious time so you can spend more time working ON your business. Watch this short video to learn more about how iBroker can help or request a demo:
References:
https://davidcummings.org/2015/11/08/working-in-the-business-vs-on-the-business/
https://smallbiztrends.com/2005/10/working-on-not-in-business.html
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