Business or social work?

Have you ever worked socially? social work is a good culture. In addition to increasing familiarity between participants, social work can solve many common problems. Sometimes social work is quite tiring. We have to work hard for hours for the common good. Because the name is also social work, you cannot expect anything in return for that hard work. Because the purpose of social work is not to make money. This is the difference between social work and business. If in business, your hard work is certainly not for free. But many business people unconsciously do "social work", even though their intention is to do business. Including me.

I also experienced the same confusion. I work very hard. And because I work according to my passion in the IT field, of course I really enjoy my hard work. But later, when the bills came in, I was confused about what to pay. Yes, because my business at that time did not provide significant financial results. Wow, why is it like this social work? As soon as I thought. Have you experienced the same thing too? You are not alone. So let's learn together to make our business no longer a social work.

Previously, let us first understand the meaning of "Business" itself. According to Brad Sugars, business is a commercial business, which generates profit, which can run without our presence. Here it starts to clear, our business must be commercial (not an NGO or a social foundation), which generates profit, and can walk alone, even though we as owners are not present. Simple right? So you just have to do a self-assessment now, whether your business can run profitably, even if you just go for a walk? Can not? Hahaha ... it's the same as me. I, too, am still heading there. Indeed, if you say Brad Sugars, you have to take a disciplined journey to go through 6 steps to the condition of "business going on even though we are walking".

The first step is Mastery.

This is a basic mastery that will differentiate your business from community service. Mastery that will distinguish whether your business is commercial or wants to be a "social foundation". Mastery ensures that we deliver our products or services in a way that is profitable, productive, and sufficiently informed to make important decisions. All you have to master is:

• Money Mastery. "Wow, if my money is already great ..." maybe you think so. Yes, spend it I'm sure you're great ... hehehe. No, here is not just a matter of spending money. But how do you master your financial numbers which include:

A. Break-Even. That is knowing how many sales, the number of customers, the amount of Rupiah, you need to cover your break-even rate. Before, of course, the percentage will be added to make a profit. It's easy, you have to know the amount of monthly expenses that you spend to run your business. Then you calculate to get the amount of Rupiah, you need to sell how much. Your estimated sales value can be obtained from how many customers, and with how many sales average.

B. Profit Margin. Now if you have mastered Break-Even mastery, you can set a budget for profit by itself. Even if your business is retail, you can set a budget up to monthly, weekly and daily. You can specify how many customers per day with an average purchase value, so you profit. The end here is to determine strategies to increase profit. An example of a mainstay strategy for increasing profit is "5 ways", where you can increase profits profitably by focusing on 5 things:

• Increase the number of leads (prospective customers)
• Increase conversion rates (prospective customers become customers)
• Increase the number of transactions
• Increase the average sales value
• Increase margin

C. Reporting. You must have your important numbers in a clear report to help make decisions. Reports help you understand where your business is located.

D. Test and Measurement. Test and measure whether your strategy is working well. Suppose you do a discount strategy to increase conversion rates. You must record and measure the effectiveness of your strategy. So if the discount strategy turns out to be ineffective in increasing conversion rates, you can immediately replace it with another strategy.

• Delivery Mastery. Say you have now succeeded in getting prospects and customers in line to get your product. What happens if you are not consistent in your delivery? You will be left behind and maybe they will give up. The continuity and consistency of delivery of your products and services will determine whether your customers will continue to be your customers or not. How to ensure you are consistent in delivery. Easy. Listen to your customers. Do they complain? Group in at least 5 areas of complaint, and immediately make repairs.

• Time Mastery. It's a matter of productivity. Our productivity will determine the success of our business:

A. Goal Mastery. First we must know where our business is going to be taken. You must have:

Vision - Our main inspiration, where we will go.
Mission - How do we realize our vision: What is our business, who is our team, who is our customer, what makes our business different from the others?
Culture Statements - Values ​​that are important for the owner, member team, customers, and business success. Which is the rule of playing together for you and your team.

Next write down your goals and milestones that will bring your business closer to Vision.

B. Self Mastery. It's a matter of self-discipline. How do you stay focused by creating a good work plan. How? Try doing a simple time study. How much time do you use to work every day. Record within one week. Then write your time usage allocation. How many hours do you use your time to communicate (email, chat, phone, etc), do routine work, etc. You will be surprised. How much time we use less effectively. You can then identify jobs that you can delegate, you can reduce because they are not important and so on. The end is that you will be able to get more time that you can use for important tasks such as planning, or your personal life with family.

Well, that's just a discussion about Mastery. Long isn't it? If Brad Sugars thinks there are 5 more steps, namely: Niche, Leverage, Team, Synergy, and Results. Wow, how come it's still far away? Calm, calm, this is not as rigid as a mathematical count. Slowly apply it first, this Mastery, you will be carried to the next step. Until you can enjoy your business as a business. Not social work.