There is nothing to prompt learning like pain and necessity. Ray dalio, Principles
At my shop, we had a staff of 6, and 4 of them quit within one month. It was brutal. But it made me cut the fat. It made me prioritize.
The Greek root of the word crisis is to sift, as in to cut out the excesses and leave only what is important. Glennon Doyle Melton carry on Warrior
The old way
I used to deliver jobs to our top clients. It’s old school, I know, when so many goods are ordered online and shipped. But, I’m part of a franchise, and we are taught that personal service still means something. When I lost more than half of my team, I had to start shipping the bulk of our orders. I miss the face to face contact with clients, and I worry that they will miss it too. But I think my customers would rather have their product in hand as soon as they can, than to see my pretty face in their office.
I’ve saved time and money by making this switch. When we have rebuilt our team, I will personally deliver to my customers again, but I will be more strategic.
The new way
My shop is open Monday thru Friday, 8-5. My goal for the shop is to have everyone working on today’s work, meaning we are caught up. Truth be told, we are blessed to be busy and usually running behind. As we work to stay on top of orders, I usually tell myself, I can catch us up after hours and on the weekends. But something flipped for me during this time of intense focus and prioritization. Instead of saying to myself, “I can catch us up on the weekends.” I’ve started asking myself, “What needs to happen so that the work is getting done well during business hours?”
I’ve started asking myself: “Should I ship this order, or deliver it? Shipping will cost me X, while delivering will cost me time and gas, and I won’t be able to input orders. Ship. Should I bring someone in to help input orders? I will have to pay them X, but if I don’t bring them in, I will have to work over the weekend and we will still be behind. Bring them in.
Prioritize
I’m learning how to clarify for myself what my priorities are, and make decisions to help me best accomplish those priorities, mainly, hustling at work, but not taking it home with me every night and weekend.
What are your priorities? What can you cut?
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