E53: Busy ≠ Productive: What to Really Prioritise to Grow Your Business

Feel like you're doing all the things but your business still isn’t growing?

In this episode of Dream Business Dream Life, we’re cutting through the noise and looking at what actually deserves your time, energy, and money.

I’m sharing the hard truth: Most business owners don’t have a strategy problem...they have a priority problem.

You’ll learn:

• Why looking 'busy' isn’t the same as being productive
• The two areas you must audit now: your time and your money
• The biggest mistakes that are slowing your growth
• Why you don’t need the fanciest tech, branding, or another offer
• A super simple (but powerful!) tool I use with clients: the 3R Filter
  → Revenue | Reach | Repeatability

By the end of this episode, you’ll know exactly what to start doing (and what to stop) so you can grow faster, stress less, and build that dream business and life.

This week’s challenge:
Audit your calendar and spending from the past month. What were you actually prioritising and what needs to change?

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Transcript

Hello & welcome to Dream Business Dream Life, helping ambitious people, like you, to grow a business they love.

 I’m Emma Hine and I’m on a mission to show you that it is possible to grow a business without sacrificing your life.

 Having experienced the rollercoaster of making millions of pounds, but feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and totally unsuccessful, I know first-hand the importance of growing a business on your terms.

 On this podcast I'm going to share with you lots of tips and advice that will enable you to grow a business that gives you the financial freedom to live the life of your dreams while sharing with you some inspirational growth stories from other fabulous business owners.

Ready to live the dream? Then let’s get stuck in…

Hello & Welcome to today’s episode of Dream Business Dream Life.

Today I’m diving into a topic that every business owner needs to hear…priorities…specifically, what to actually prioritise in your business, and what to stop wasting your time and money on.

Because let’s be honest it’s really easy to feel busy but still be stuck in the same place. You’re working hard, but are you working on the right things?

You hear me say it a lot…you need to be productive not busy and so in this episode, I want to help you get laser-focused on what actually moves the needle. 

So let’s jump straight in.

Here’s the thing - most business owners don’t have a strategy problem they actually have a priority problem.

I know crazy right…here I am, a strategist telling you that strategy is not always the reason you are stuck!

Too often, I see people spending hours tweaking their website, creating a beautiful logo, or creating yet another super pretty document or exciting offer and then wondering why they’re not hitting their income goals.

Or they’re saying yes to every opportunity, every client, every urgent task and ending up overwhelmed and burnt out.

Or they’re investing in every single program, membership and piece of tech that they see others using.

Wanna know the truth? Not everything deserves your time or your money.

What you actually need is to be intentional with what you spend your hard earned money on and what you use you super valuable time for.

The starting point has to be this…Ask yourself: What am I actually building here and is what I’m doing today getting me closer to that?

You have a dream right…so is what you are doing moving you closer to that dream or is it just taking up your time?

You see busy doesn’t mean productive. In fact, being busy with the wrong things can quietly, and quickly, kill your momentum. And without momentum you simply won’t get the growth you want.

Let’s break it down. There are two key areas to look at when it comes to setting priorities…your time and your money.

Let’s start with time. Your time should be focused on activities that generate revenue, that bring in new leads or new clients or are helping you to build long-term systems, that will make your business sustainable and get you to that dream.

So that means spending time on things like lead generation and sales, creating offers or content that directly helps your audience. On delivering value to existing clients and streamlining your processes so you’re not reinventing the wheel every single week.

You need to avoid getting lost in the trap of doing everything yourself. You’re not saving money by doing that, you’re just capping your growth. Outsourcing and automating is going to save you time…and ultimately that will help you to grow your business or spend more time doing life with your friends and family if that is your priority right now.

Ok let’s talk money.

One of the biggest mistakes I see?  People spending money on how the business looks before investing in how it works.

You do not need to spend £5,000 on a website before you’ve made your first £5,000. You don’t need the fanciest tech stack or the best branding designer in year one.

What you do need to invest in are things that save you time, that make you money and help you to grow.

That could mean a solid CRM, targeted ads, a copywriter for sales pages, or even a VA to free up your time.

If it’s not saving you hours or bringing in cash, you need to question if it is where your time and money needs to go…right now!

Now I feel I need to get on my soapbox momentarily here as something I hear so often is I cannot afford to do that thing or I don’t have time to do it…the truth…you do…you are just not prioritising the right things.

If you want growth you have to start prioritising it.

So next time you need to invest in something and don’t think you have the money look at what you are spending money on…can you cut back on those sneaky lattes for a few months, do you really need to be in all those memberships? If you want to grow your business, then you have to make sacrifices and the question is what is your priority right now the latte or the growth? As you have that choice which you prioritise.

The same with time…what do you prioritise you do with your time? Is it growth or is it scrolling for hours…I see you watching all those funny dog reels…well maybe it’s time to focus on the growth and cut back on that scrolling for a while!

It’s time to prioritise better.

And here’s a really simple tool to help you do just that. I call it the 3R Filter. I know really original name but stay with me…simple is the way I roll and this is super simple.

So before you spend your time or money on something, I want you to ask yourself 3 questions

Number One - Revenue - Will this make me money?

Number Two - Reach - Will this help me grow my audience or visibility?

And number Three - Repeatability - Will this save me time or become a repeatable system?

If what you are doing does not tick at least one of these things then you should not be prioritising it…simple as that!

That’s the 3R filter…simple but super effective.

Ok so let’s wrap this up..

Here’s what I want you to remember:

Prioritise what brings in revenue, builds reach, and saves you time long-term.

Stop being busy and start being intentional.

Your time and money are limited. Invest them in things that move you forward.

So, here’s your challenge for this week.

Audit your calendar and your spending. Look at the last month. What were you really prioritising and what needs to change?

Make those changes and let’s get you growing!

If you enjoyed today’s episode then I would love it if you would leave me a little review.

Thank you for listening; see you next time.

You have been listening to Dream Business Dream Life with Emma Hine. If you want to know more about how I can help you to build your dream business and your dream life, then visit my website emmehine.co.uk. Until next time remember you really can have it all!