Dump “nonprofit” tasks and focus on the high-value ones.
By Sandi Leyva
The Complete Guide to Marketing for Tax & Accounting Firms
Let’s do the math. To earn a million dollars in a year, you have to bring in $83,333 per month. Assuming you bill hourly and work for the standard 1,000 billable hours per year, you need to charge $1,000 per hour. If you want to make $5 million in one year, you will need to charge $5,000 per hour.
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Here’s some breaking news: You won’t get there doing tasks that are worth $10 per hour. Even if we drop a zero and aim for six figures in a year, you won’t get there doing $10-per-hour tasks either. At six figures, you’re worth $100 per hour.
The difference between poor people and rich people is simple: One values the scarcity of their time and uses every minute wisely, and the other doesn’t.
Here are some tips to help you start thinking like a millionaire, which is the first step to becoming one:
Step 1: Identify your “nonprofit” tasks.
Take a look at your to-do list. Eliminate any activities you are doing during your work day that are not profit-making. Some of you will feel resistance to giving these up. Here are some examples:
- Watching TV
- Poking someone on Facebook
- Going to the post office and standing in line for 20 minutes to buy a $1 stamp
- Playing games on Facebook, or even responding to others’ requests
- Looking at competitors’ websites
- Reading and answering email requests on email lists you subscribe to
Here are some more examples of nonprofit activities:
- Working for free: not writing your time down as billable or writing off time you worked
- Going to a workshop where you really already know everything but you feel insecure about your knowledge
- Trying an idea from a peer for your business when you have no idea whether it will pay off or not
- Staying on the phone for half an hour to dispute a $5 charge
- Answering emails of people asking for favors but who have not paid you anything
- Attending a networking meeting where all your friends are when you haven’t gotten business from the group in a year
Do you feel resistance to considering giving any of these up? It’s normal. We do most of them because either that’s the rule or habit, or we want to be liked. If we really want to grow our income, we need to make a conscious choice.
Step 2: Delegate or delete your “nonprofit” tasks.
The only way you will make it to a million is if you start delegating everything you’re doing that is worth lower than your current billable rate. This includes both personal and professional tasks. Delegate the lowest hourly tasks first, which will free up your time but won’t cost you a ton of cash.
Step 3: Focus your newly freed-up time on high-profit tasks.
Here are some examples of high-profit tasks:
- Calling a power partner to discuss a joint venture project that will make both of you money and serve both of your client lists
- Writing content for a book, course or program
- Making sales calls
- Speaking or preparing a speech
- Appearing on TV to spread your message
- Teaching a workshop or designing an event
- Hiring staff
- Strategizing your business
- Listening to what your customers want and need
If you have some changes to make to your to do list, then congratulations. You’re three steps closer to becoming a millionaire.
I’d love to hear from you: Post the tasks you are giving up, and let me know what tasks you’ve labeled as your must-do high-profit tasks.
