Audio and slides: How to manage multiple businesses without going crazy

Like many small town business people, I have more than one business: liquor store, cattle ranch, speaking and writing about small town business, and Tourism Currents. So how do I do it all? It’s one of the most common questions that I get asked. That’s why Cory Miller of Entrepreneurship Lab and I put together this webinar.

I shared not just the big picture business strategy, but also the day-to-day level productivity skills that keep it all from falling apart.

Here is the audio recording. (MP3)

You can follow along with the slides below, or download a PDF of the slides here: Manage Multiple Businesses.

Here is a summary of the productivity principles I mention.

1. Know your mission.
I know that my mission is helping small towns build more successful entrepreneurs. Knowing that makes it easy to focus on just the most mission-critical items. I can say no to things I should never take on.

2. Know your goals.
For each business, I keep one page with the goals and next actions written out. I update these regularly so I can see what needs to happen next with each line of income.

3. Plan your week.
Each weekend, I sit down and plan out the coming week. I start with appointments on my calendar. Then I fill the rest of my week with actions from my goals pages. That lets me keep all the businesses moving forward during any week. And I can start Monday strong, because I know exactly what to work on first.

4. Be realistic.
When I’m filling in that weekly calendar, I restrict my goal-related tasks to no more than six on each day. That keeps my work load realistic. I don’t have to worry about all 30 goals today, just six. I know the others are scheduled for later in the week.

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About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.