Im Too Busy” can not continue to be an excuse…
Im a pretty busy guy. I help run a printing shop in Cleveland Tn and we STAY busy. We come in knowing that in our line of business, there is always something to do. Whether we come in and we are hole punching books for hours on end, or if we come in and have 12 sales calls to get to that day, we are continually moving.
Busy-ness is NOT a bad thing. Thats not what im getting at at all. I hate to hear companies that say they are getting too busy, then complain about not getting enough customers in the slow time.
While we do stay busy at our shops we can not use that as an excuse as to why we cant get someone their job on time. You know why? Because the customer doesn't care if we are busy, the customer wants their product. Can you imagine a world where you order something from Amazon, and they call you and say “Hey sorry we are REALLY BUSY and arent going to be able to get you your job for a couple of weeks.” You would never use them again.
In the same way, I think that small businesses should treat their day to day business the same way Amazon, Walmart, and all the other corporations do, and that is to deal with it. Deal with being busy in such a way so that you can still operate at maximum potential.
To some that may mean not taking as many off days? Maybe you come in an hour early and leave late. Maybe you don’t keep Facebook open on your desktop, and Instagram open on your phone. Maybe you silence your group chat where all your buddies are talking about happy hour. These are just a few examples.
There are also work related things you can do. Maybe production is getting to be too much and you need to hire some part time help. Maybe you dont answer email throughout the day, but maybe only once or twice. Talk less at the water cooler, take a shorter lunch, stay longer, ALL of these are do-able with out costing you a single thing.
This is why we need to stop complaining about being so busy. We can not continue to use this as an excuse as to why our production is low. Your production is low because you arent working hard enough. Suck it up, and make a change. Because if you continue to use this excuse of being too busy, your not going to have any business, and that will cost you a lot.