Your Business Is Perfectly Designed to Cap the Value of Your Time

As a founder, your time has a value, and you want it to be as valuable as possible.

That value isn't fixed, but it doesn’t increase by accident. Most founders never get intentional about increasing it. So they cap their own value without realizing it.

It can be a little uncomfortable to consider, but your time is worth the value of the things you spend it on.

If you're spending it on the same work you were doing three years ago, it's worth roughly what it was worth three years ago.

Doesn't matter how much the top line moved.

You know how this plays out.

-The manager has a problem and asks you to step in because you said yes last time.
-The client requests you by name.
-The team brings the edge case because nobody else handles it as well.

And you step back in.

Of course you do. You can do it faster, better, with less friction than anyone else in the room.

So you keep doing it.

Unfortunately, too many founders keep doing the work they're best at long after it stopped being the most valuable use of their time.

That competence is exactly what makes it dangerous. It's the thing that keeps pulling you back in.

Your craft becomes the trap.

And it’s not like you're being careless. It always FEELS productive.

The work gets done well. The client is happy.

Everyone around you has a reason to let you keep doing the work.

Nobody around you is going to tap you on the shoulder and say "you should be doing something else right now."

That tap has to come from you.

Your business will put constraints on the value of your time unless you evolve with it.

A business doesn't magically make your time more valuable. It requires intentionality - from you.

There are five different constraints that can hit expertise businesses. And your first step is finding out if one of them is threatening your business and the value of your time right now.

Each one undermines growth in a different way. And the most expensive thing you can do is keep guessing at the problem.

​The 5 Ceilings Quick-Assessment will diagnose it in less than a minute.

The Line Between Who Gets Paid and Who Doesn't (New tBOJ episode)

AI is separating who gets paid from who doesn't, and everyone is finding out which side of the line they are on.

You're either selling information or you're selling judgment.

Information just became a commodity.

Judgment is the only thing clients are going to continue paying for.

​Shireen Hilal and I discussed this on the newest episode of The Business Owner's Journey. She shared a quote from a buyer of professional services that should have every expert’s attention:

"I have ChatGPT too. What I really need is the one person who is obsessed with my issue... and is willing to talk about how to actually move forward in the gray. I would pay $4,000 an hour for that person."

That's the new definition of an irreplaceable expert.

If your expertise is your business, you need to hear this.

Listen to or watch this episode on Spotify, Apple podcasts, Youtube, or your favorite platform!

Build the business you envision,

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