How many times do you think you’ve seen or heard the word hustle in relation to work? Someone is always telling you to hustle harder, faster, stronger. You can make more money with a harder work ethic, but you can also make more money if you hustle smarter.
I firmly believe that you don’t need to run yourself into the ground to make money or build a business. Those stories of successful entrepreneurs who worked 20 hour days and never saw their families? Sorry, that’s not the life I want to live and it’s not a requirement for success.
In order to hustle smarter and still make a healthy living I do a couple of things for my business.
I invest in systems.
Using systems to take care of recurring items in my business has saved me a lot of time and frustration. I used to make individual invoices for each client manually. It took so much time! Using Due has saved me time and means I don’t have to worry about where and when my money ends up. It goes directly into my bank account. I can set up recurring invoices so I don’t have to spend the time each month creating one.
I do smaller things well.
There’s a lot of competition for all of us out there. Rather than try and be the flashiest or the biggest brand in my niche, I select the things I really want to do and I do them well.
With my business Bravely, I host financial literacy events. I’ve focused on doing smaller events for between 30-75 people, rather than a huge conference for hundreds. I don’t have the time or the resources for a conference, but I can put together a damn good small panel event.
Doing smaller things well grows my brand in the way I want. I put together quality events that have actionable take-aways. By not overreaching, I can insure that my events go smoothly.
I ask for help.
There are so many things that I’m not an expert on. So I ask for help with those things! DIY is great, up until a point. I hire a lawyer and an accountant to help with my taxes and legal paperwork. I ask for volunteers to check in people at my events. I hire a photographer to take pictures at my events.
Asking for and hiring help when you need it is absolutely freeing for a small business owner. It optimizes your business, takes extra work off your plate, and allows you to move forward. Rather than struggle through researching how to light a room for a headshot, I can go to a studio and get one professionally taken. It’s a win-all-around.
It’s true you do have to put in the work to see success in your work. But you don’t have to hustle harder in every aspect of your business to get the best results. You can just hustle smarter.
