For many Part Time Entrepreneurs struggling to make their home business profitable, they already know it.
For others just starting out, they'll come to understand it soon enough.
I'm talking about the true currency of Part Time Entrepreneurs and it's not money.
Nope, money is NOT what's holding most Part Time Entrepreneurs back, it's not what is keeping their businesses from flourishing.
Sure, we all want to make money and become profitable, but rarely does an infusion of cash make the difference for those that build their home business part time.
To be sure, money is not the currency of the Part Time Entrepreneur.
What could be more important than money?
What could possibly be more valuable?
I'll tell you what, from personal experience.
TIME, that's what.
Part Time Entrepreneurs – Lessons “In Time”?
Yesterday, Rosemary and I decided to unplug for a couple of hours and go watch a movie at our local cinema. It's what we often like to do to unwind.
We say a movie called “In Time”, with Justin Timberlake.
I didn't know anything about this movie, other than it got fairly good reviews in our local paper.
I had no real expectations going in, but what I saw truly opened my eyes.
After the opening credits, we learn that “In Time” is set somewhere in the future, in a time where money does NOT equal power, as in today's world.
In this society, TIME is power.
It seems that, in this futuristic society every one is given 25 years to live. After that time, you only continue to live as you “earn” more time.
Some time is inherited.
Some time is earned.
Some time is stolen.
Even in a world devoid of money, there is crime.
Nothing costs money in this society… only time.
- A loaf of bread? 5 minutes
- A ride on the bus? 1 hour
- A new house? They didn't say, but I'd bet it would put you back several years in time.
How is This Movie Related to Part Time Entrepreneurs?
As we sat engulfed in the movie, I couldn't help but understand how these people felt.
In a society where time was everything, no one took a minute for granted.
Not one moment was wasted, because it was so valuable.
And so it is for Part Time Entrepreneurs.
In a world where every free minute is one more minute that can be used to propel our businesses forward, time is everything.
It's also our most limited resource.
Like the people in the movie, we don't like to waste a single free second, knowing that using it the right way over time will help us escape our shackles and throw us into the world of full time entrepreneurship. For us, wasting time is like watching small grains of sand slipping much too quickly to the bottom of the hourglass that is our business.
Like the people in the movie, TIME IS OUR CURRENCY.
- We buy time by paying someone to work for us (outsourcing).
- We buy time by working together with others (collaborating).
- We buy time by putting off things we'd rather be doing for the sake of our business (sacrificing).
For Part Time Entrepreneurs, What's The Best Use of Our Time?
So, if time is so valuable to Part Time Entrepreneurs, you may be asking yourself (as I often do)….
“What's the best way to spend our limited time?”
The answer, I suppose will depend on where we are in the process. The best way to spend your time will be different if you are a beginner just starting out, as compared to someone who has been working their business for months or even years.
But in general, I've come to find that there are 3 ways to spend your time that is “can't miss”.
Doing one of these 3 things is ALWAYS a great use of your time. Actually, this is true whether you're a Part Time Entrepreneur or someone working full time building the business of their dreams.
1. Time spent increasing your knowledge.
2. Time spent improving your skills (remember it's always better to be an expert in one skill than mediocre at many).
3. Time spend finding those that have taken the same path and succeeded (I call them mentors).
For further reading on this, be sure to check out this post on finding a great mentor.
How Do You Spend YOUR Time?
Do you agree or disagree with my 3 most valuable uses of your valuable time in building a home business? Have any to add?
LEAVE A COMMENT and let us know.
19 replies to "The True Currency of Part Time Entrepreneurs (It’s Not Money)"
Hi, I am Martin Morris,. Thank you for giving us tips.. It helps me alot 🙂 Keep on posting!
You’re welcome Martin. I sent you a private email about some editing I needed to do on your comment!
I saw the film as well, and while I absolutely agree with your points, I think the writers actually just replaced money from our real world with time in their world, and they tried to symbolically explain to everyone watching what is happening today around us in the financial world (with the occupy wall street movement in full swing when I was in the cinema, it made a lot of sense, and it actually brought me down as well, because of the point at the end of the movie – but I don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t seen it yet). Anyhow, I agree with time being an important factor in home businesses. If you are alone, 24 is not enough time in a day to do everything. This is why I have virtual assistants who do the more time-consuming tasks for me, and to make sure they are doing a good job, I am using this employee monitor software which connects us in real time, so I can intervene or help when there is a problem. There’s no shame in getting some help, and actually, time saved is money earned, isn’t it?
Agreed, Leonard. When you are working as a “solopreneur”, you must leverage the skills and knowledge of others if you want to succeed, even more so if you are working on your business Part Time.
I also agree that virtual assistants can make your life much, much easier.
Thanks for your insights.
PS Sorry, but I removed your affiliate link from your comment. I don’t allow affiliate links in my comment section and usually delete the comment, but yours was valuable without the link.
It’s OK, thank you for publishing the comment anyway! Have a happy and successful new year! (I’ll try using the commentluv plugin, although it usually only works for blogs)
Bob,
I love the topic of this post because the issue of time is something that my entire blog is based on. There really is only so much time that a person has to invest in whatever they choose. There is always an opportunity cost for the other things we could have spent that time doing. Spending time learning is an excellent time investment to a point. At some point though a person needs to buckle down and go apply what they have learned. Otherwise the return on investment of time spent learning will not make it worthwhile. Learn then apply. Learn then apply.
Interesting post and time is one thing I am constantly trying to find more off. For whatever is possible I see if I can outsource it or find some way to get others to do it for me in exchange for free content and products of mine. The more time I can get devoted to my sites and building traffic to them the better off the company will be.
One thing I learned and I just post this on my Facebook wall just today that time spent wisely is time that you spent learning new things that make you grow positively. I am a stay at home mom and just recently learn video editing which I find very exciting, because of this the time I spent with learning this gives me a work online and a boost on my morale.
Absolutely, every new skill you master makes you that much more valuable in the eyes of others. Congratulations on perhaps getting out of your comfort zone and learning new things!
Hello Bob!
this was really one good post. So many information, and all of them are true. I agree completely that time is power. And for sure that nothing can equal money except only the time. What is actually more important than money? Only – time! Because without time, we would be not able to provide money for us!
I think for most part time marketers (and maybe even full timers), time is more crucial than money. How you spend your time will dictate how much money you make!!!
Thanks for the comment, Eleonora
Hi Bob!
You are absolutely right, Nothing can equal money except time. What everyone needs in this ultra busy era is time. The way you have correlated ‘in time’ with part time entrepreneurs is wonderful. My Brother in law is a part time entrepreneur and there are many lessons, if he had not learned in time, he would be pursuing some other profession. Really, Time is power.
Regards,
Steve
I need to agree that time is really crucial. As you can see, we can never put back again the time we wasted, simply because we don’t have the energy to go back again. If you genuinely require to be a excellent man or woman and also an entrepreneur, you require to treasure your time since that is the only way you can be effective in daily life
I loved this! It made me think about the wasted time I might spend thinking about something less important in my life. In regards to my business, I think I put too much time in it, so I have set up a schedule, for blogging and family time. It might seem silly to some, but for me, it’s so I “don’t” take certain areas of my life for granted.
Time slips away faster than we think. When I get home, I swear it’s almost time to go to bed and then get back up and do it all over again. Or if you have a long commute to and from work, the time wasted sitting in your car to get home and get to work. Great post!
Dear Bob,
I always love your common sense approach to network marketing. I think now, having been in the game quite some time myself, it makes sense to always start with education…but you’d be surprised how many people just fire off and don’t take the time to learn first.
I think I may have been fortunate to have started the way I did. I jumped right in and had someone who gave me some “tough love” tell me that I needed to get good at speaking to people. So I joined toastmasters and got over myself enough to get some confidence and grow!
It’s all a tremendous growth opportunity when we really commit ourselves. 🙂
Great advice here! I’m happy to share this on with my readers!
Best regards,
Cat Alexandra
Great stuff Bob!
I always try to find new ways to make things simpler and easier. I just love to tweak systems and make them more optimized.
Cheers,
Timo
That sounds like a really good movie Bob, something different. I bet that really did get your juices flowing and thank goodness, we now have the post because of it.
I know that a lot of people bulk at building a home business because it does take time. Time that they don’t really have because their lives are already busy. If only they would realize that just by sacrificing a little more time, they can eventually have much more of it to themselves because they are now set for life. A home business is the only way you can do this.
Managing time is important really with anything you do in life. I’m sure it’s even more difficult for the part-time home business owner. I know that scheduling my time is crucial if I intend to accomplish all the tasks I’ve set before me.
Thanks for sharing this with us. I know I say that a lot but I do enjoy your posts and the knowledge that you always share. I always have some take aways after reading your posts Bob.
~Adrienne
Time definitely is power. What I have to tell myself is that I need to do the things RIGHT now that will help me to be successful in the future. Am I doing what I am supposed to be doing RIGHT now??
I totally agree that we should be constantly updating our skills and doing them on a consistent basis. Wow…this is hard, but so worth it for our future like I said above.
Hope I am making sense. 🙂
Scott
I must agree that time is really important. As you can see, we can never put back the time we wasted, because we don’t have the power to go back. If you really need to be a good person and also an entrepreneur, you need to treasure your time because that is the only way you can be successful in life.