The Secret Ingredient in Batch Processing (Part 1)
Whatever form of online business you engage in, you can probably benefit from batch processing. This could mean blogging, writing sales copy, combing thorough analytics, cold calling…whatever. For those not familiar with batch processing, it is the practice of lumping together related business activities in an attempt to be as efficient as possible.
So what is this first secret ingredient suggested in the title? Well before we get to it, let’s consider some background. Engaging in any sort of weekly routine with diligence for month after month obviously requires self discipline.
And there seems to be a direct correlation between discipline and financial success in online business, especially in the early stages when there is usually only one person working on the business. There are however limit to self discipline as even the most disciplined entrepreneurs run into snags, emergencies, other miscellaneous delays. So what should happen to our batch processing schedule when we run into these inevitable distractions?
Well if we take our cue from those highly efficient business owners who know and practice the secret ingredient of batch processing, then we make sure to make up our lost work immediately after the delay is overcome. This usually means making up the missing work the next day. Please note that this is easier said than done and that there is a subtle trick to making this all work.
The problem for most entrepreneurs is that their next day is already jam packed with activities for them to do, whether these be related to their online business, part-time job, or family. The solution seems to lie in having and understanding the priority stack for your online business.
Of all the functions your online business engages in on a weekly basis you should know in your mind how each of these ranks in importance. Once these are ranked there should be some cut off point which you establish that separates the most important tasks from all the rest. This split could be 90/10, 70/30, or 80/20 like the famous “Pareto Principle”.
If a business grows large enough then at some point business owners will need to delegate some of their business functions in order for their organization to grow, however for those online business that are still one man operations, batch processing is extremely valuable. The first secret ingredient of batch processing then is to make sure that no matter what else happens, those business functions that you deep “most important” are taken care of each and every week.
August 11th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Very insightful post. Do you have a youtube channel to share??