Week 4: "Pareto" your founder life
24 hours in a day & a gazillion things to - for your business, family, friends, and yourself. Why not optimise the time you have for maximum results?
Why this matters
When I started Inspirele, I had a full-time job, an existing e-commerce business with my partner, a wedding to plan, and a move to a new country. Everyone thought I was crazy to be doing so much in so little time! I’ll be honest, it did seem overwhelming at first, but I knew I had to pull through.
I was equally passionate about each of the above topics, and I wanted to live a “Portfolio Life”, a term my Harvard Business School professor, Christina Wallace coined. Many women I know already live a “portfolio live”, being the natural multi-taskers that they are, and have found ways to optimise it. So, I started applying a practice I learnt a lot about in my consulting career - 80/20 or the Pareto Principle, and it became my key to discovering that I CAN build a business amongst my other responsibilities, on my own terms and barometers of success!
If you are an aspiring / early-stage founder who’s overwhelmed by the many things you need to do on top of your business, this week’s newsletter is for you. Today, I’ll cover some points (just scratching the surface really!) about how you can optimise time and effort spent on your business, to create space and time for other responsibilities and hobbies.
80-20 in entrepreneurship
When I did my Economics course at University College London, the first thing I learnt was that resources are finite. Today, as an entrepreneur, I appreciate this fact a lot more. In entrepreneurship, everyday is an opportunity to make the most of the limited time, money, and energy you have. It’s up to you to decide how you spend these resources, to yield the outcomes you seek.
In my search for optimisation, I’ve crafted a strategy that’s worked wonders for me in terms of managing time and energy. I’ve also had the opportunity of interviewing hundreds of successful female founders who’ve applied 80-20 in unique ways, and their advice has helped me test and refine this approach further.
So, what's the deal with this Pareto or 80-20 thing, you ask? Well, imagine it as your secret sauce to maximize results with minimal effort. In other words, focus on tasks where 80% of your outcomes come from 20% of your efforts, and avoid those where 80% of your efforts only yield 20% of desired outcomes. Let’s break it down into 5 simple and practical steps…
Step 1: Identify the Vital Few 🕵️♀️
Grab a latte, sit back, and take a hard look at your upcoming week’s to-do list. What 2-3 tasks will make the biggest impact for your business to achieve your near term goal? These are your VIPs, your "Vital Few." Highlight them, circle them, put a star on them – these are the ones you will spend your personal time and energy on to get right.
Step 2: Don’t do everything👑
You don’t have to wear all hats, unless you can. For the that don't fall under the Vital Few, pass the torch - to humans, technology or time.
DELAY what you can if it will not yield maximum results at this point. Often times, it can be more useful if done later, after your Vital Few are completed well.
DELETE the unnecessary tasks that are complex and don’t yield much outcomes for your business. This is what I like to call noise - sometimes, you hear feedback or have thoughts that are interesting, but may not be as helpful to your current situation. So, learn to delete these quickly to avoid your task list piling up
DELEGATE - empower your team (or if you’re a solopreneur, empower part-time employees or experts on Fiverr) and free up your schedule for what truly matters.
Step 3: Time-Block Your Way to Freedom 📆
Now, let's talk time management. Create dedicated time blocks for your Vital Few tasks. Protect these blocks like they're the crown jewels. This ensures you're giving your A-game to what truly propels your business forward - ideally you spend 2 hours per day executing on these
Step 4: Embrace the Art of Saying "No" 🚫
Probably one of the hardest things to learn to do is to say “No”. Most of us have been conditioned to always be there for others and seize opportunities as they come. But not every favour or opportunity is helpful or good. Learn to decline opportunities or tasks that don't align with your business goals or values. This isn't about being rude; it's about safeguarding your time for the things that matter most.
Step 5: Work Smarter, Not Harder 🤓
I can’t stress this further - Efficiency is your BFF. Leverage technology, automate repetitive tasks, and explore tools that streamline your processes for the Vital Few. Remember, it's not about how many hours you work; it's about what you accomplish in those hours. Often, if you give it some thought, you’ll see that there is a way you can accomplish the same outcome in a much easier way. Pro tip: Reflecting on how others before you have achieved similar outcomes is a helpful starting point. Compare and find the most efficient way that suits you and your situation!
✨ Prompt to Action: Unleash Your Pareto Power!
The Pareto principle can look slightly different for everyone, but the core elements shared above are ultimately the same. Why not try it out and see what it can accomplish for you, in your own style?
As you think about your business goals for this upcoming week, join down your Vital Few (VIPs), think through the most efficient way of accomplishing them, and let the Pareto Magic begin. Share your journey with us – tag us on social media using #ParetoPowerMoves, and let's celebrate your wins together!
Remember, your time is your greatest asset. Own it, rule it, and let's conquer the entrepreneurial world together!
Note to our readers
We’re a new, growing Substack community, with the mission of supporting women who want to start and build businesses on their own terms. If you know of women in your network who would benefit from these weekly resources, please help spread the word and share our platform with them!
Also, we are launching our 100 Diverse Stories initiative next week, starting with the story of a close friend/mentor who’s built a powerhouse company in record time. Stay tuned as we publish it on our brand new Podcast channel, and share the link on our social media + as a bonus section in next week’s newsletter
See you next Sunday!
-Nareen