three strategies to Gain Back Your Time

by Cam Roberts of Laser Pavement Solutions

Imagine attending a live orchestra performance. Thirty instruments play together harmoniously, creating a spectacular musical experience. The conductor stands on the podium, ensuring the symphony stays on track. However, throughout the performance, the conductor repeatedly jumps off the podium to play unoccupied instruments, then rushes back to direct. When a saxophonist misses a cue, the frustrated conductor grabs the saxophone, finishes the piece, and then hurries back to his podium.

"If you witnessed this for an hour, what would you think of the conductor? Is he effectively leading the symphony?"

When starting an asphalt business, we often have no choice but to 'play the instruments.' We estimate, sell, perform, hire, invoice, and handle HR—there is no shortage of tasks.

As we transition to the busy season, many business owners struggle mightily to transition their role from “doer” to “conductor”.

If you are feeling overwhelmed with tasks in 2024, here are 3 things to immediately help you transition from playing all the instruments to leading the symphony.

1. Identify tasks you can delegate NOW.

Business owners need to focus on growth. A lot of the tasks we end up doing, however, are more focused on keeping the business operating. Identifying which of these tasks you can delegate is the single biggest return of your time investment. For example:

Are you struggling to market the business on social media? Inquire on local Facebook groups for individuals who would like to work 5-10 hours a week creating and posting social media. Pro tip: You can find a lot of great candidates in any facebook group for mothers or fathers. Often, these individuals can’t work full-time or even part-time hours, but would love a flexible job opportunity.

Are you spending lots of time creating estimates? Spend 3-4 hours creating a step-by-step process for your estimates. Have someone do your estimates 1-2 afternoons a week for you. Review them before having the estimator send them out on your behalf.

Are you barely keeping up with trying to manage the schedule? Have someone manage client communications and schedule for a couple of hours at a time.

Often, you can hire someone who is willing to cover a multitude of small tasks for you.

2. Post job ads, even if you won’t hire right away.

Could you imagine if the NFL waited until they had injuries to try and fill the spots on their roster? They would be stuck with below-average talent because everyone else wasn’t available! Similarly, in business, if you wait until you are bursting at the seams to make an important hire, you likely are going to miss out on great candidates. Instead, post hiring ads now, and build a pipeline of talent you can have ready.

3. Subcontract out if you can’t keep up.

If the job schedule is full, and there is no end in sight, engage smaller companies that can assist you with subcontracting. Often, business owners resist this, thinking “I won’t make as much money if I subcontract it out. I can do it eventually!” However, more often than not, this is flawed short term thinking. The cost of losing a customer because we couldn’t serve them in a reasonable time frame is significantly more costly

While there is checks and balances required to subcontract work successfully, smaller projects usually require very little time to manage the project, and you can still end up being profitable on projects without having to complete them yourself.

Don’t be overwhelmed by the busy season! These three practical steps take a small investment of time to implement, but can save you countless hours in return, allowing you to orchestrate the growth of your business in 2024.