Here’s a true story about how I grew a $500 million dollar company in just 8 years.
I had recently left an ad agency I owned half of, after having disagreements with my business partner.
Suddenly I had nothing to do, and no idea about what my next business would be.
So I did something pretty radical.
I hired two full time executive assistants.
Each day they would sit in another room in my new office and each day I would have to think of things for them to do!
There were plenty of days where I literally had no work to give them and had to conjure up tasks.
But most days, it worked brilliantly. Because they would do every little thing that new company owners usually waste time doing themselves.
Like getting coffee. Buying stationery. Researching business ideas. Handling admin. Arranging travel. Organizing multiple people for meetings. Etc.
As a result, I was freed up to think. To invent. To make something big happen.
After about 6 months of this, I came up with a new idea for a new style of communications group, raised $5 million and we built the 15th largest marketing services group in the world.
If I hadn’t have been free to think, it may never have happened.
Are you free to think?
Or are you bogged down by the minutiae of running a business?
If you are, you need to do something about it. The opportunity cost of not being free to create and generate income is just too much.
Remember, if you don’t have an assistant, you are one.
And you are probably doing two jobs badly: running a company and being a secretary.
You can start with a part time assistant, and then grow to having a full time one. Then two.
When Michael Ovitz was at Disney he had six.
(That’s someone who thinks big.)
Try it. As long as you use your freed up time to do valuable, company growing things, it will be one of the best decisions you ever make.
It certainly was for me.
