Recently, I read “Buy back your time” by Dan Martell. If I had seen this picture before I got the book, I definitely would not have started….,
And maybe you won’t want to read on either. But I do recommend you to get the book if you’re an entrepreneur. I read it twice!
Outsource more
The main message of the book: almost all entrepreneurs should outsource more work to others. To grow their business faster and make more money, but most of all to have a nicer and more relaxed life.
It’s very recognizable: we entrepreneurs like being responsible for everything and we have a hard time handing over work as we think the quality of the work will be better if we do it ourselves. Martell agrees – yes, probably so. But, as he writes: “80% is great is 100% awesome!”. That’s a sentence that comes back again and again in the book. Sounds very American right? Well, Martell is Canadian. I’ve started using this sentence everywhere for fun, and it’s sticking!
The main goal of any entrepreneur should be to do the things that make most money AND that “light you up”, and to relentlessly move towards the top-right in the DRIP-Matrix as he calls it, while always making sure you put enough time in “investing” (in health, love, spiritually, etc.). You do this by paying other people to do work in the left quadrants. Step 1: get an assistant, or someone who does work you’re just not passionate about.
This is a very simple concept which totally makes sense of course. If we would outsource more to others, we wouldn’t have to work so hard and we could enjoy life more.
And Martell basically repeats this same thing about a hundred times in the 227 pages of this book. You could imagine having a “duh” moment somewhere around the 25th time he says the same thing, but there are so many real life stories about people like Oprah Winfrey & Andy Warhol (who outsourced nearly all their work) it never gets boring. The book is also packed with practical productivity tips. I read the book twice in 2 weeks, I’ve adopted many tips and I tell all entrepreneur friends about it.
Nice quotes:
Many entrepreneurs become so accustomed to stressful and unknown environments that they become addicted to chaos.”
Yes, I really recognize that. Most entrepreneurs are workaholic in a way. I love having too much on my plate – it energizes me. Bring it on! But I also know deep in my heart: it’s not good.
Even if you own your own business, if you’re trading your time for more money, you’re an employee. Not an entrepreneur.
If your business depends on you, you don’t own a business—you have a job. And it’s the worst job in the world because you’re working for a lunatic!
Many (most?) entrepreneurs start out by selling their time. As a consultant, a writer, a programmer, etc. According to Martell, those people (like me!) aren’t really entrepreneurs. I took offense, but he has a point. “There just isn’t enough time available. Eventually we must embrace trading our money for more time” if we want to keep growing. It’s very true – and confronting.
Don’t hire to grow your business. Hire to buy back your time.
This is the essence of the book. Instead of hiring new employees to increase the volume of work your business can handle, you should hire to free yourself from tasks that don’t require your unique skills or expertise, allowing you to focus on high-value activities that drive business growth.
Want to read it? Let me know what you thought!
