Most owners I talk to are working hard. Really hard. They answer the phone, run sales calls, check on crews, pay the bills, and still end up at the kitchen table at night doing estimates.
Being busy is part of owning a business. The real question is what you're busy doing.
What are High Value Activities?
High Value Activities (HVAs) are the things that produce big, lasting results for your business. This is the work the owner should be focused on:
- Hiring the right people
- Training and coaching your team
- Reviewing your numbers
- Planning where the company is headed
- Positioning your company in the market
What are Low Value Activities?
Low Value Activities (LVAs) are the daily tasks that keep things moving but don't move the business forward. Answering phones, opening mail, typing proposals, scheduling, picking up materials, handling routine service calls.
They need to get done. They just don't need to be done by you.
Why do High Value Activities get pushed aside?
LVAs are loud. They're right in front of you, ringing and asking for attention. HVAs are quiet. Nobody calls to remind you it's time to review your numbers or work on your hiring plan.
So HVAs get pushed to tomorrow, then next week. Ignore them long enough and they turn into urgent problems: a bad hire, a cash crunch, or a team that can't function without you.
When you're doing HVAs, you're working ON your business. When you're doing LVAs, you're working IN it.
Why does this matter so much?
If you're the one doing everything, your business can only grow as far as your time stretches. Every hour you spend on a $20 an hour task is an hour you aren't spending on the work that grows the company.
Hand off the LVAs, and you make room for the work that builds the business you actually want.
Challenge
Make two lists. On one, write the High Value Activities you should be spending more time on. On the other, write the Low Value Activities you did this week. Pick one LVA and hand it off to someone on your team by the end of the month.