Episode #213: Every Japan Entrepreneur's Top 3 Requirements

To succeed in our own business, we need three critical skills: the ability to master our time, to clone ourselves and to be persuasive.

Time: Poor time control leads to inefficiency, wasted efforts, stress and missed opportunities. Entrepreneurs are geniuses at trying to do too much. This means they are run ragged with time demands and no good solutions. This has to be turned around and time gotten under firm control. Follow this mantra: “I can’t do everything on this list everyday but I can do the most important thing”. Each day decide the number one priority for your business and complete that, then start number two, and so on.

Delegation: Being so busy is a result of not having trusted people around us to whom we can delegate. We must get leverage through our team. But we don’t. We cannot find the time to develop them, so we are stuck like a rat on the treadmill.

Getting a better grip on your time will create space to spend on training your key people. Don’t fluff the delegation process, because you are clueless on how to do it. Don’t just dump stuff on people, expecting them to magically get it and somehow be able to come back with excellent work. Stop dreaming, it won’t happen.

Have a meeting with the delegatee, where you explain the task in terms of how this is designed to help them grow and succeed in the business. Talk in terms of their interests not yours.

Inspire: Investors, potential new staff, valuable existing staff, clients, all need your persuasive ability to impress and keep them happy. If you are an unclear, unimpressive speaker, it is hard to get people to believe in you and follow you. You can be a tyrant, but let me know how that is working out for you? Honey does better than vinegar, when it comes to communicating with people. You will never work it out on your own. Get the necessary speaking training and stop kidding yourself.

Master time, grow the leverage throughout your team and learn how to inspire people. Get on to it.