Here is how to get the best out of your time and money

The twin challenges that give most entrepreneurs sleepless nights are time and money. One has to use limited time to accomplish so much to drive the business optimally.

Equally one has to decide how to spend money well in order to get the highest returns on things such as marketing, product development, human resource and personal indulgencies.

It is not always easy to balance these two most important resources, yet that they are the greatest determiners of success of any venture.

To make informed decisions, you need to make three clear and focused choices. These choices should be used to guide you on how you spend time and money on daily basis.

First, define your firm’s business and stick to it through thick and thin. Do not keep changing your products or what you supply to customers depending on prevailing social economic situation. It may look like a smart way of seizing every opportunity but in essence it makes you jack of all trades and master of none.

Being laser-focused on what you do you boost your credibility and brand. It helps you master basics that over time increase efficiency and profitability. It also elevates and positions you as a professional and reputable provider.

Empirical evidence in all sectors show that businesses that are known to provide certain products professionally without wavering grow steadily and faster than others less focused.

Being a jack of all trade is no longer a business leverage. Customers are becoming increasingly comfortable dealing with professionals in all areas. Furthermore, you don’t necessary succeed by having so many products. It is better to have few products that are in big demand and have good margins.

Second, define your customer. It is common to find enterprises that tend to target nearly every human being as potential customer. This actually makes marketing very expensive, problematic and yield very low returns.

Businesses that choose and pursue a particular well-defined type of customer are the ones they grow the fastest. They equally get the highest return on marketing investment.

In most businesses marketing is one of the single greatest cost. Therefore, even a marginal improvement in that area can yield great results.

By defining your product and ideal client you save a lot of time, money and energy to drive and grow your business.

Third, establish where your customers are found or where they come from. This will help you make the right decisions regarding advertising, sales promotions and networking events. It will guide you on the kind of aura you need for both offline and online presence.

Once you have defined your core business precisely, you know your ideal customer and where they are found making decisions becomes very easy. You will not need to waste time wondering here and there looking for things to supply to customers. You will not need to waste money advertising to people who will never buy your products or attending fairs, networking events and exhibitions that yield low returns at best.

Mr Kiunga is a business trainer and the author of The Art of Entrepreneurship: Strategies to Succeed in a Competitive Market. [email protected].