“When you say ROI, do you mean return on investment or risk of inaction?”
Paul Gillin
I’m thinking that you’re in business because you love what you do and also so you can make money. If you can do what you do as a hobby or just for fun, then more power to you! But most of us are in business doing what we love while also paying the bills.
Making money means getting out there in front of people so they can purchase your goods or services. That usually means hustling to figure out where you need to place your time, energy and effort, especially if you’re in the earlier stages of building your business.
Let’s look at ROI or your return on your investment of time, money and energy as what’s coming back to you in business due to your efforts. But let’s think past just the ROI of income and look at five types of ROI.
Money. The income you bring in doing whatever it is you do. Selling services, consulting, speaking, selling products or even receiving referrals for business from others.
Support in business. Your ROI in support could come in the form of learning from other people who are running a business. It could be receiving motivation from others or receiving direction from others. Spending time with people who help support you and improve your business has great value.
Knowledge. There is also great value in expanding our knowledge base. We can learn a lot from those who have gone before us through listening to podcasts, motivational speakers, watching videos, attending seminars and reading books.
Contacts. Getting out of your office and into professional networking settings will allow you to meet new people with their own knowledge base as well as their contacts in business for referrals or to make connections.
Advertising. Marketing may come with trial and error. Some marketing may be free such as social media posts from your business accounts and some marketing may have a monetary investment attached. Is your advertising doing the following for you:
*Giving you name/brand recognition?
*Bringing in income?
It’s important to pay attention to what’s coming back to you for the time, energy, effort and money you are expending. Don’t let the stats just float around in your head. Find a way to track what you’re getting back in a way that will come easily to you so you can track consistently. That may look like a spreadsheet with headings for each way you are putting business out there. It may look like paper to pen. It may look like a journal. Track everything you’re doing and the money it’s bringing in or any of the other additional four types of ROI I’ve shared with you.
Where are you placing your energy for tracking? Think about:
Networking groups, ads, associations, volunteering in your community, meetings, social media sites, blog posts…Whatever the list looks like for you.
Track it all year, but take time to evaluate quarterly. As you get to the last couple of months of the year, be sure to take time around November to really, really evaluate what’s been working and what hasn’t been working for you. This will allow you to make informed decisions on how and where you want to place your focus for the upcoming year. Don’t forget the 80/20 Rule: 80% of our results typically comes from 20% of our effort. Really be honest with yourself about what your 20% looks like so you can get the most bang for your buck in the upcoming year when planning for your goals and business strategies.
Wrap up:
Start a system for your tracking right now, no matter how far into the year it is. It’s never too late to start paying attention to how your time is paying off.
“It’s not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?”
Henry David Thoreau
