I was talking to a new client the other day, who was saying how overwhelmed she was in her business. She told me that she had been presented with a $10,000 opportunity.?

I suggested that she walk away from it? and she was delighted! (What??!?)

I was talking to a new client the other day, who was saying how overwhelmed she was in her business. She told me that she had been presented with a $10,000 opportunity.?

I suggested that she walk away from it? and she was delighted! (What??!?)

Then I shared with her the steps that I had gone through to make that suggestion, and she was more delighted 🙂 Because there are steps you can follow, and guidelines you can apply to know whether a decision is a good one for your business.

Knowing these saves you TONS of time, and ultimately helps you focus on making more money while serving people more.?

It requires some thought to walk through these, but it?s worth doing. (And if you wanted everything to be easy-peasy, you wouldn?t have started a transformational business. But you?re here to make a difference!)

Here are the 5 steps to time-saving business decisions:

1) Set 3 clear, defined business goals.

When you?re first starting your business, it?s common to chase the money. (I?ve done it, too!) You?re willing to do almost anything to bring in cash, even if it?s outside your genius or comfort zone, and even if you know that you?re selling yourself short.

However, as you start to bring stability to your business, sometimes it?s easy to forget that we don?t have to take every opportunity that comes through.

Focus on your top 3 business goals. For example, you might choose:

• Increase revenue 20% in the next 3 months
• Book 1 new speaking opportunity/month, but only before ideal clients
• Set up 1 new referral partnership/month with others who do what I do but for different types of clients.

Now that you?ve got these goals, you can move forward into the other questions.

2) Ask the question ?What?s the best outcome this can bring me??

If you look at a realistic best outcome, you WILL walk away from some opportunities. For example, you?ll know that a speaking gig that isn?t in front of your ideal clients isn?t a great opportunity. Also, assuming the goals that are listed above, if something takes you away from revenue (like an opportunity to build something that will pay off later) it?s not a good choice at this time.

3) Ask ?Does this opportunity make sense from a time & profitability standpoint??

Sometimes we?ll get a great money opportunity, but the time that it takes doesn?t make sense. If you get an offer to be paid $1000 for an hour of your time (yay!) but it requires 5 days of advance prep that you can?t repurpose? that?s not a good offer.

Usually we CAN repurpose prep work for a new client or event. For example, if you?re asked to present a workshop for pay, you may make a video of the workshop, and offer that video for sale or use it for client-attraction, assuming the client agrees. So that means that even if the workshop isn?t a big money-maker, you can still get value out of it.? However, if your 3 goals revolve around revenue, speaking gigs, and referrals, don?t plan a workshop that will require lots of prep time unless you have a fair amount of confidence that it will lead to your revenue goal.

4) Ask ?Will this bring me joy, and delight??

This is the one that usually gets sacrificed in building a business. And sometimes the question is ?will this ultimately bring me joy & and delight?? When you?re building, sometimes (often!) you end up doing things that you don?t enjoy, or that you?re not masterful at yet.

For example, you may not love to reach out and try to find speaking gigs or referral partners. But ultimately, having the gig or the partner will bring joy & delight, so it?s worth doing.

5) Ask ?Is this the best way to bring both joy & profitability, or is there a better one??

This is a little tougher to answer. However, if you?re considering taking an action that involves a great deal of time, asking whether it?s in alignment with your goals, and if it?s the best option that you know that?s in alignment with your goals, is a worthwhile question. Sometimes you even find yourself having a creative flash that?s better than your original idea. One way to spark this creativity is to ask ?what if I couldn?t do this – what would I do instead to get the same or better results??

That?s it. 5 steps, and lots of time-savings. Once you?ve done step 1, you can also just run that last 4 steps any time you need to make a decision. However, be sure to revisit your goals every 90 days to make sure they?re still appropriate.

Want to know another great way to save time? Make sure you?ve got an awesome freebie that works for you, to attract your ideal clients! Get ?3 Freebie Templates that Work for Coaches & Healers? here.