What’s your time worth?
Are you maximising the value of your time? Or, like a lot of people, are there simply not enough hours in the day and you spend many of them chasing your tail, doing things that aren’t serving you or your business as well as they could?
If this sounds like you in your role as an insurance broker and business owner, it’s time to take control otherwise you might find your business stagnating.
Do you know how many hours a week you and your team work? Be honest here, are you one of those people who just can’t help themselves and gets a little obsessive over having a clear inbox? So much so that you find yourself saying in the evening ‘I’ll just answer this email to get it done’ when really, it’s a task that doesn’t need your skillset to complete? Before you know it, half an hour has disappeared just sorting out an email or two and looking at things that, let’s be frank, are really a bit irrelevant and not worth your time. I bet a few of you are thinking ‘hmm, that sounds a little like me’ right now!
I’ve got a question for you. Do you genuinely believe that by squeezing things in here and there you’re helping your business?
I’m sure a lot of people might answer yes, because of course by doing it yourself you’re not paying anyone else to do it for you. But I think the answer to this is a resounding no. With all due respect, there comes a time in any business whereby if you try and continue doing these things yourself, without investing in support, you’ll find that you’re actually costing yourself the growth of your business.
I challenge you to take a look at the last week and see if you can confidently say how many hours you spent doing income producing work, work that is really moving your business forwards and playing to your strengths. Were you able to generate new business, profitable business, that is building the business you want?
If you can answer these questions easily and feel comfortable that you are maximising the time you have to get the best results for your business then that’s amazing – and I’d probably say stop reading this article now (if you haven’t already) as it’s likely not be the best use of your time!
If however you’re thinking there’s something you could improve on then read on, you might just pick up a tip or two that can help…
Time trackers, I’m a big advocate of them and here at Insurance Support Solutions Ltd we use them every day. You may say you don’t have time to do this, you’re too busy, but trust me it’s a worthwhile investment of your time. How can you be confident your time is well spent and your clients are profitable if you don’t fully understand how long the work is taking you and ultimately how much it’s costing you? There are lots of free apps available, take a look at Clockify, Toggl or Timecamp. There are lots available so take a look online and find one that works for you.
Make sure you know what your hourly rate is, along with that of your team if you have one. Would you pay £40, £50, £60 or more an hour for someone to send out some policy documents? I thought not! If you’re doing this work, that’s what it’s costing your business.
Think about whether or not you are doing the work you want to do, the work you love, the work that makes the best use of your skills and knowledge. Or are you feeling fed up because you’re spending your time doing tasks that you don’t like and take you longer than they should? Maybe that’s chasing invoices, uploading new risk information into Acturis, checking and sending policy documents, writing blogs or the dreaded compliance work to name a few. In fact we’re well aware from our current clients what a drain compliance work can be, that’s why we’ve recently brought on board a compliance team to help brokers like you with this work!
Why not give these simple tips a go, it could mean the different between a business that is stuck in a rut and a business that is moving forwards and growing. Understand your value and then bring on the support that you and your business needs in a way that works for you. It’s the only way to increase the bottom line of your business – think about the value rather than the cost.
There are options open to you that will mean you no longer have to squeeze these tasks in. Options that will also mean you’re not paying over and above the hourly rate that these tasks require. It might be that recruiting a new employee is the right move for your business. Or it could be that outsourcing would better suit you at this point in time. You’ll likely find the hourly rate to outsource work is less than your hourly rate and that’s before you consider the value you’ll bring to your business of you doing what you do best with this time.
Remember, even if you have beautifully streamlined processes in place, they still take up time that could likely be better spent elsewhere!
If you’d like to find out more about how Insurance Support Solutions Ltd can help you get the full value out of your time, drop us a line for a chat – we’re a friendly bunch!