Managing Resources

Last year was a ridiculous year! I found myself working to the bone and achieving absolutely NOTHING! Looking back I have realized that if I had simply taken a “year off”, I would have spent far less money and come out a lot less stressed and much happier with the result. In retrospect, I’d wasted not only money running around like a “headless chicken”, I’d also wasted precious time I could have spent with my family who were missing and needing my full attention, energy that could have been better utilized on my self-interests and a clarity of mind that was weighed down by other people’s problems and demands.

Through this, I’d learned a few important things.

We have 4 resources to budget when running a business:

Money                                                                    

The most obvious, one would think? If we don’t have money, we can’t drive to clients, or keep the telephone lines open or internet on. We can’t keep the doors open if we don’t pay rent and maintain service if we can’t pay our staff. The pressure of the bills and payment notifications remind us monthly of money that needs to be paid. If we are not making money to pay the bills there is no point. We adopt accounting procedures and systems to ensure that we keep in line with managing the money resource in our business. Some don’t and get burnt when they realize that there is theft or mistakes, which cannot be recovered and money is lost or wasted.

Time

“Money doesn’t buy you time” they say! There are only 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week and 52 weeks in a year. We often get caught wasting time, procrastinating, not planning for efficiency or prioritizing poorly. In business timing is everything, we hear them say (I’d like to meet “them and they’ someday, they seem to know a lot!). We often have deadlines to keep, goals to achieve and it all requires things to be done in time. That feeling when there are just not enough hours in a day is a feeling to be acutely aware of.

Energy

While we may have money and time, energy doesn’t always sustain and we find ourselves getting really tired. This affects our functioning and ultimate effectiveness. We may work slower, make mistakes or even “burn-out” completely. This is risky as we lose the joy in what we do and the passion for achieving

our goals. This flows into other parts of our lives and flags the question of life-work balance. Lifestyle plays an important part here! Fitness, diet, rest time, good health and meditation are all necessary to keep energy levels at a sustained and consistent level, to maintain maximum productivity. Just like an athlete or Sports star, your business is your sport and you must keep “fit” to perform well physiologically and mentally.

Mind-Space

We all have “mind filing systems”, where we keep memories, thoughts, opinions and experiences. We reference these when making decisions in business. We as individuals have our own capacity to retain and maintain such space in our minds. We also have limited capacity to access this information at varying speeds, when needed. We often speak about “juggling a lot of things at once” and fear of “dropping the ball”. This is because we as human beings have a limited capacity to manage thought processes before experiencing “errors”. Much the same as a computer and its hard drive. When the memory is full, we need to clear it out and format our “hard drives” to give space for more information or knowledge. Another option is to filter information, by prioritizing the information we need to access in ways that are effective and require less mind space. Technology has a large part to play in the digital world of business and allows us as business people to access information faster. Algorithms allow faster and more logical access, sometimes even deriving the required outcome automatically i.e.: virtual reality….

 When compiling your monthly Profit and Loss statement, apply the same calculations to the 4 fundamental resources that need to be budgeted. List what costs you time, energy and mind space, what is required and what is simply draining you of what is absolutely necessary to run effectively and efficiently. Also, budget your resources, just like you budget your money. If you have run out of any of these 4 resources you are at risk of losing your business! Unlike money, time, energy and mind space cannot be borrowed from a bank.