CLIP's Tips

Looking for more ways to “bring home the bacon?” Here are some more ideas for how to apply the 80/20 principle in your business:

• After finding your top 20% most profitable customers, visit their properties and suggest any improvements you see.  You are likely to get a high return on investment.
  • Example: I joined a mowing crew for a day last week.  While on the job, I noticed three customers with various things that could be improved on their properties (i.e. apply fertilizer and weed control, trim bushes, etc.).  I spent 10 minutes calling them and have one new job lined up already.
• Think about what 20% of your job produces 80% of your unhappiness at work.   Brainstorm for 15 minutes about how you could automate, eliminate, delegate, or outsource these responsibilities.
  • Example: Although I can do it, I realized that doing equipment repairs in the Spring myself is a real drag on my momentum.  I have decided to outsource this to a mechanic for at least the months of April-May.  I would rather spend the time selling or training.
• For the next two days, keep a log of what you do.  Update this log every hour with what you accomplished during the previous hour.  After the two days, pick out 3 activities that were most effective toward reaching your goals (greater customer satisfaction, working less hours, more sales, etc.).  Write down what these activities are and increase the time you spend on them.  Why waste your time on the least effective things?
  • Example: I found that by tracking my actions for the last two days that one of the most effective things I did was to mind-map (more on this to come) about this blog to generate new ideas.  Within thirty minutes, I generated dozens of ideas which will help achieve my goal of helping you, the readers.

  Do you have any ideas about how to apply the 80/20 rule?  Please share by clicking on the comments icon on the top right hand side of this post.

Happy dog picture by: waimeastyle