Make Your Time More Valuable

You don’t always need to hire to grow your business. But you do need to rethink what makes you competitive.

- ADAM BORNSTEIN

Q I want to grow my service-based business, but do I really need a bigger staff to land bigger clients? —ANNA, CHARLOTTE, NC

SOME BUSINESSES, like SaaS or tech companies, are infinitely scalable: You build the product and sell it to as many people as possible. Service-based businesses are different, because you’re limited by the amount of time it takes to perform a given service.

One might assume that the only way to create more time (to perform more services) is to hire more people. But there’s a different way to think about it: Smart growth isn’t about spending more, nor is it about maxing out your time. It’s about finding leverage.

This starts with identifying your company’s competitive advantage. Ask yourself these five questions:

1/ What is the main value I provide to my clients that’s not a commodity?

2/ Where am I investing the most time? Could it be better utilized?