Dan Ariely, Duke professor, author and behavioral economist, says that workers are motivated by a variety of factors, only one of which is monetary. He contends that workers are motivated by meaningful work, by the acknowledgement of others and by the amount of effort that we have put into a task. According to Ariely, the harder we’ve worked to accomplish something, the prouder we are of that accomplishment.
Owning your own small business can be a herculean task at times. There is always one more thing that needs to be done. One last step that requires your attention. Yes, you work to provide for your family, but that isn’t the driving factor that led you to start your own business. You had an idea. A way to make, do or sell things in a way that wasn’t already being done. You saw an opportunity. A chance to make a difference. A new beginning that could grow into something bigger than you ever imagined. This is motivation. This is why you work.
Supermodel Linda Evangelista once said, “We don’t wake up for less than $10,000 a day.” What this says is, if your motivation is strictly monetary, it takes a lot of money to get you moving. Good thing most of us follow Ariely’s model and find motivation in other areas.
Even the best of us can find our motivation flagging from time to time. We all have days when we’d rather be somewhere else, doing something else. The key is to turn that desire into motivation. Take a moment and think about that place you’d rather be. Think about what it is you would rather be doing. Now assess the roadblocks. What is keeping you from that place, that activity? In some cases you physically have to be present at your business. Most of the time however, the roadblocks are task oriented. If you were able to finish this project or that job you would have some free time that you could spend away from the business. Inventory is a great example. You spend countless hours keeping stock. Just find the motivation to track each time something moves, and you'll stop wasting time trying to figure out where things stand.
If you’ve been following our posts on process improvement and process mapping you have already identified areas that you could save time and money by improving the way you do daily tasks. If you need to free up even more time you may need to spend some time brainstorming ideas. Are there any jobs that you could outsource to contractors or other vendors? Could you train another employee to cover some tasks? Is there a newer, faster way to do some of the routine jobs that eat up your day? Researching and implementing these ideas may take time and effort but if you remain focused on the goal of gaining the time and freedom to pursue some of your other interests the dividends could be very rewarding.
Of course, if inventory management is one of the tasks holding you back, we suggest that you try Stockpile today. Our free inventory management solution will have your inventory issues under control in no time. When your data is accessible anytime, from anywhere you won’t be tied to the office either. If you’re ready to experience freedom from inventory management woes, start using Stockpile today.
