Are You Making Time to Work ON Your Business?
Most business owners and leaders I talk with don't have a shortage of things to do.
There are customers to serve, employees to manage, emails to answer, invoices to send, problems to solve, meetings to attend, and decisions that can't wait until tomorrow. Some days, simply getting through the list feels like an accomplishment.
I understand that feeling.
But as we begin the final quarter of the year, I've been thinking about a question that can be difficult for any of us with a full plate:
When was the last time you stepped away from working IN your business long enough to work ON your business?
There's a difference.
Working in the business is the work that keeps things moving today. It's answering the phone, responding to customers, managing employees, completing projects, solving problems, and handling everything else that needs your attention.
Working on the business requires us to look beyond today's list.
It's asking whether a process still makes sense. It's reviewing the numbers. It's thinking about where you want the business to be a year from now. It's considering whether your team has what it needs to succeed. It's identifying an opportunity you've been too busy to pursue.
And sometimes it's simply giving yourself enough uninterrupted time to think.
That's harder than it sounds.
The urgent almost always wins our attention over the important. A ringing phone demands an answer. An email gets a notification. A customer needs something. A problem lands on your desk.
Strategy rarely announces itself with the same urgency.
There isn't an alarm that goes off reminding us that it's time to think about next year's goals or reconsider a process that has become inefficient. Nobody sends a calendar invitation telling us it's time to consider where our next customer might come from.
We have to make room for that work.
The beginning of the fourth quarter gives us a natural opportunity to do it.
There are still three months left in the year. That's enough time to make meaningful progress, but it's also close enough to 2027 that we should begin thinking about what's next.
So here's something practical I'd encourage you to do this month:
Block one hour on your calendar to work on your business.
Close the door. Step away from your normal workspace if you need to. Put the phone down. Bring a notebook and give yourself permission to think.
Start with four questions:
What's working well?
Don't immediately jump to the problems. Identify what's producing results and consider how you can build on it.
What's not working?
What process, product, service, meeting, or routine is creating frustration without producing enough value?
What are we spending time on simply because we've always done it that way?
Sometimes the best opportunity isn't adding something new. It's stopping something that no longer makes sense.
What needs our attention before we enter 2027?
Maybe it's a new hire, equipment investment, marketing strategy, budget, technology upgrade, employee development, or a goal you've continued to push down the road.
You probably won't solve everything in an hour.
That's not the point.
The goal is to create enough space to see your business from a perspective that's difficult to find when you're buried in the day-to-day.
One of the roles I want Shawnee Forward to continue playing is helping our business community create those opportunities. Sometimes that comes through professional development. Sometimes it's a conversation with another business owner at a Social Exchange event. Sometimes it's an introduction to a resource or partner. And sometimes it's simply asking a question that causes us to look at our businesses a little differently.
We all have plenty of work waiting for us.
But before another week gets consumed by everything that needs to happen today, make a little time to think about tomorrow.
Being busy keeps the business moving. Being intentional helps determine where it's going.
-Daniel
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