The current reality is that the market is awash with advice on how to run businesses. That leaves people scheming the surface for what is the easiest to implement without a thorough understanding of the principles. One such example is the 80/20 rule. The fundamental belief is that 80 percent of your output comes from 20 percent of all inputs.
The law did not start as such but from Vilfredo Pareto. The Italian economist was referencing land inequality, noting that it was 20 percent of the population that owned 80 percent of the land. This same sort of imbalance has been indicated in sales, revenue, website traffic, and other marketing efforts. The ratio is not always the same; it can be 70/30 or 90/10. Overall, it is known as the Law of Inequality or the Pareto Principle.
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Implementing the 80/20 rule
The fundamental idea is establishing the areas where you will spend most of your time. In business, that requires looking at the revenue streams and focusing areas to spend most of your time on. Once you do that, break down activities based on the same on a weekly or daily basis. People typically accomplish two to three critical tasks that feed into the 20 percent. The rest, though it needs doing, it is less important. That could include making copies for a team meeting or checking your emails.
Let us work with the example of a personal injury lawyer Toronto consultant. Here is what the process would look like:
– Establish what brings in more clients
– Set targets to accomplish annually, quarterly and monthly basis
– Daily, write a list of what needs doing
– Focus on the top two or three tasks that feedback to what brings in more clients
– Work on the rest once the priority tasks get accomplished.
In such an instance, the lawyer would block out morning hours to meet clients only, and dedicate the rest of the day working on deliverables, followed by checking emails and other tasks. Therefore, when implementing the 80/20 rule, ensure that the majority of what you do feeds back to what brings you the most revenue, views, leads, customers, subscriptions, etc.
Things to keep in mind
Emails need to be checked, and marketing meetings need to happen. Instead of putting them in the back burner, find ways to get them done effectively. You can block out chunks of time to respond to emails and make the meetings shorter. Don’t be overly focused on the things that sustain your business and neglect those things that feel mundane. There is still a balance that needs maintaining.
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