To achieve Half-Retirement, you need to change your business focus from growth to maintenance, so you can preserve what you have created and empower yourself to get your hands on the extra free time that you want to pursue for yourself and your family.
Changing your mentality from growth to maintenance
Throughout your entire business career, you have been committed to making the most of every opportunity to further your prospects. Now you’re approaching Half-Retirement; however, your goals need to change as you adjust to the new aim of recovering some spare time for yourself without negatively impacting what you’ve already built.
The best way to do this is by ensuring you are mentally prepared to handle this change. Holding onto minor tasks that waste your time is no longer an option. This is the start of your escape plan.
Focusing on changing your business processes to cope with having less time at the office is the key to a successful Half-Retirement. With our Half-Retirement course, you will learn a variety of techniques to help make this transition.
To get you started, here are just a few things you can do to start focusing on maintenance instead of growth.
5 techniques to help you focus on business maintenance
Switching your focus from business growth to maintenance can be a daunting process for business owners. However, by compartmentalizing things, and focusing on what you really enjoy about your work, we have no doubt you will be able to achieve your Half-Retirement dreams.
1. Fractionalization of your workload
Keep a diary and learn what you actually do within your business. Your role may have changed more than you think over the years, and you will be surprised at how much time you allocate to certain tasks.
When you have discovered what you spend most of your time doing, you can then break down your workload processes into bite size chunks that can be easily distributed when the time comes to pass on the baton for specific tasks.
You can also identify where your staff may need additional assistance in maintaining your business without you being around. Additionally, you can identify a skill shortage you will need to train or hire people for to avoid issues in the future.
2. Systematizing work processes
Breaking down your workload into stages can also be referred to as systematizing your work processes. This means that you have a structure to follow. In the short term, this will allow you to organize yourself a little better and avoid mistakes. In the long term, you are beginning to prepare instructions for your successors.
You can create instructions for your work processes in any way you that is comfortable for you. However, you need to keep in mind what your audience will comprehend, so be sure you keep your language simple and to the point, then pay extra attention to any areas that require a more detailed explanation.
If you are looking to start systematizing your workload, why not try the following to get you started:
- Making video tutorials
- Creating step-by-step instruction guides
- Forming process flow charts
- Designing info-graphics
- Putting filing systems into place to support your processes
When you have created easy to follow guides, you can then begin to look at your workload and see which tasks among those processes can be delegated. At this point, the people that you are handing over to will still need your guidance; however, they will also have something to refer to, to help them when you are not present to answer their questions.
Learn more about why you should depend on systems, not people, here.
3. Discovering what you enjoy
When the time finally comes to begin distributing your workload, you will not want to let go of it all at once. This probably isn’t possible, nor is it advised. As a business owner, you are too important and too skilled to abandon your duties like that.
What we advise if is to focus on the tasks you are essential for, what you enjoy, and what you bring an extra bit of “sparkle” to. This way, you can really delve into what you love about your business, keep up your culture, and make sure that everything still runs smoothly.
We like to call this work your Picasso work. Learn more about finding your Picasso work here.
When you have depicted what this work is, you will then be able to recognize what tasks are left for you to distribute throughout the rest of your workforce or outsource elsewhere. These remaining tasks are the jobs that are taking up the time that you want to spend in Half-Retirement, so they are to be dealt with first.
You can begin to get rid of the rest of your workload later, when you and your business are ready for it.
4. Appointing a mini-me
Appointing a person to take over part of your job role can be incredibly helpful when you are working towards Half-Retirement. Whether this person’s job is to only take over the roles that you no longer want any part of or to become your full replacement in the future,having someone to take over the reins when you’re not there isn’t a bad thing.
If you choose to go down this path, then the most important thing is choosing the right person for the job. This cannot be rushed. The wrong person could do more damage than good and prevent your transition into Half-Retirement.
Appointing a mini-me that has enough skill and passion to be able to do what you do is no easy task. It requires much more than good delegation on your part. They will still need guidance, and quite often they will have a high monetary price.
The best way to approach this is to decide on whether you really need a mini-me to achieve your Half-Retirement dreams or if you want to approach Half-Retirement without one. This is possible; it just takes a great deal of preparation in order to work effectively.
Weigh your options, and decide if a mini-me is the right Half-Retirement option for you here.
5. Streamlining your processes
When you begin to delve into your role as a business owner and what it consists of, you may benefit from reviewing your existing processes. By doing this, you will be able to see if there are any tasks you can afford to cut out of your routine, e.g., an unnecessary filing exercise or a way of automating a stage in your process.
As a business owner, you should be no stranger to the streamlining process, as you have had to deal with this before to save time and cut costs. All you have to do is do it again – but this time for good!
Make everything you do as easy to follow and cost-effective as possible, and soon you will see plenty of opportunities to regain some free time for yourself without worrying about whether the little things are being taken care of or not.
Why focusing on business maintenance is important during Half-Retirement
If you’re aiming to make your way into Half-Retirement, focusing on maintenance as opposed to growth is an essential step you must take in order to make your transition easier on both you and your business.
This is a more structured and cautious approach to Half-Retirement that, if done correctly, can ultimately leave you with a very valuable or saleable asset which will make the remainder of your retirement a more positive experience.
You can also be proud in the knowledge that you are also protecting your hard work and investing in your future. It’ll be hard, but it’ll be worth it in the end.
Accept that change is coming to your business, and you will not like it all. When the time comes, remember why you’re working towards Half-Retirement and really focus on the different stages for achieving this, and you will feel better about the entire process.
If you’d like to learn more about Half-Retirement and the different methods that can help you to get there without damaging your business interests, you can find a range of materials on our handy business courses.
We cover a range of topics including:
- Delegation (why it’s not all about delegation)
- Finances
- Process handling
- Mentally preparing yourself for Half-Retirement
- Models for achieving Half-Retirement
- Compartmentalizing your workload
- Mentoring and training methods
- And much more. . .
Please get in touch to learn more about how we can help you work towards Half-Retirement and achieve the ultimate goal of getting some of your free time back without it being detrimental to your business.
Looking for a simple guide? Check out these 6 steps to enjoying the spoils of your Half-Retirement.
