Below is an excerpt from our book Startups Made Simple: How to Start, Grow and Systemize Your Dream Business. Learn more about the book here.  

“He who works all day, has no time to make money.” – John D. Rockefeller

This section may seem a little obsessive on the productivity concept, but please bear with me as I believe it’s critical to understand why and how others get things done and why others do not. This ability is absolutely fundamental to business and life. 

By developing your Agency and Resourcefulness, you will be far ahead of the curve in productivity. However, there are many things you can do to also dramatically increase your effectiveness. Again, not every great founder does all of these, but they usually employ others that do. 

In my opinion, Personal Productivity is made up of the following elements:

1. Focus. Also known as prioritization, Focus is making sure you have your one big goal in mind (in this case, it will be the business) and working on the most important next step in reaching that goal. I recommend only one big goal and never more than three. Productivity is absolutely useless if you don’t work on the right things; you’ll just be really good at getting the wrong, unnecessary, or unimportant things done. 
2. Sense of urgency. Some people have great Focus and then the task will sit for weeks on their to-do list with no action. There’s not a lot of time to goof around when starting a business or working in a startup, so you need to have a sense of urgency and know that you don’t have all the time in the world. 
3. A Deep Work routine and mindset. If you are ready to get things done but are interrupted a thousand times a day or constantly putting out fires, then you won’t get things done or will get them done poorly. The most productive people schedule and treasure their Deep Work, which we’ll discuss below. 
4. Productivity tactics and digital fluency. After you cover the three things above, there are many tactics and digital tools that will dramatically increase your productivity. We go over those later in this chapter. 

Focus

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying ‘no’ to 1,000 things.”

– Steve Jobs

“[Focus] is the one habit I find over and over again that is present in every single successful self-made millionaire I study.” – Lewis Schiff

You can’t have Agency without laser focus. From the example about getting $1,000 above: I need to save my loved ones life right now, so I’m totally focused on this one task. I am not going to check email or Facebook right now; I need to focus. Prioritizing is a related concept. A lot of entrepreneurs can be “busy” all day and get nothing important accomplished. 

A study was done on wealthy entrepreneurs and focus was by far the #1 thing most of them credited to their success. Yes, you probably have 10 big things you want to do or build, but I guarantee if you try to do all of them you won’t get them all done and most will be done poorly. 

Focus on one big thing (or at the most a very few big related things) and watch them get done. Steve Jobs was obsessive about this point—we’re doing the iPhone this year and nothing else new—so this focus principle even works with huge companies. 

Some people are productivity experts at doing completely irrelevant or unimportant things. Their computer desktop or email folders will be completely organized, but they’re not working on anything close to their priority. Honestly, working on the priority can be messy sometimes, so an ultra-clean desktop or workspace is not always the indication of productivity (though less clutter helps clear the mind, in my opinion). 

Prioritizing can be tricky (everything seems like a priority some days!), but a great question to ask yourself is: “What’s the one thing I need to be working on now to move my goal forward?” Many times, just realizing what’s a waste of time at this moment is helpful. 

For example, here’s a list of things that are probably useless before you’ve reached Step 1 or 2 in this book:

• Long business plans
• Growth plans beyond a few years
• Elaborate emergency plans for a business that hasn’t started yet 
• HR manuals before your first hire is needed
• High-tech project management software; start with the basics, then grow 
• Complex stock ownership scenarios and business entity plans

Most importantly, perhaps, great founders also tend to focus on doing what they are good at and delegating the rest, especially stuff that drains their energy or work they despise. My life changed dramatically when I delegated the mundane and tedious to others (others who may actually like that work). 

Prioritize your list of things that need to get done and work it from top to bottom. Take your priorities and pick the most important one. Delegate the rest or at least batch it with other undesirable tasks. 

Finally, it’s hard to be focused with 15 apps sending you notifications or checking text and emails every 10 minutes. You know this is bad; stop doing it.

Sense of Urgency

“Every cent of my personal wealth and business’s success has infinitely more to do with speed than with perfection. I know how easy it is for worthwhile projects to die in the Doing, so I’m eager to get them Done in a first version, not exactly right, certain to warrant later improvement and get them launched, out the door, into the marketplace.” – Dan Kennedy

If there’s one thing in life that drives me bonkers, it is founders (and employees) who seem to have absolutely no sense of urgency. They move slow, act slow, and are always carefully over-thinking and over-planning. They seem to be of the mindset that they have all the time in the world to get things done and are happy to let the world wait on them to do it. 

I’m here to tell you that not only do we not have nearly as much time as you think we do in life, we also don’t have forever to wait for you to act on your business. Let me put it this way: I’ve rarely seen a successful entrepreneur who moves slowly. Usually, people are astonished at how quickly entrepreneurs move. 

Now, I’ve known plenty of successful investors, big company CEOs, artists, and more who happily and effectively move slowly and deliberately, but not a successful startup founder or employee. Business simply moves too fast these days, and it’s only getting faster. You need to light the fire. 

A Deep Work Routine and Mindset

Once you know the priorities of execution, then a way to radically simplify your life is to make your productivity a daily routine. There’s a myth that great artists and other creative types need massive inspiration and have no schedule or routine. I’ve found nothing to be further from the truth. Most have dedicated times when they work and create. 

This list may seem long, but in reality, most of it is about learning the basics then building a great routine that you really never have to think about once it becomes a habit. It becomes part of your subconscious. Having a routine is actually a key to having more freedom in life. 

All told, I estimate there’s less than 1 hour difference in a day between an exceptionally productive person and your average person who doesn’t have a routine or skills and gets much less done: 5–10 minutes planning tomorrow, 5–10 minutes reviewing tasks/goals, 20–30 minutes exercising (to create energy and reduce stress), then arranging their day around proper Deep Work. 

1. Health and energy first. There’s a reason why I made this the first founder superpower and a reason why almost every high-performing person I know prioritizes health. It’s the source of energy and clarity to get things done in life. Energy leads to momentum and focus. Don’t ignore your health.
2. Know your chronotype. Some people are creative and alert first thing in the morning at 6:00 a.m., and some people, like me, have never had a creative thought before 2:00 p.m. and wake up feeling like a hungover zombie. This is your chronotype and it’s important that you schedule your important work to match when you can think best and when you’re at your optimal energy level. If you’re a night person doing a morning person routine, then you’re going to have a rough time. Learning this was a game-changer for me. Make sure your team and family understand chronotypes as well so that they respect your most productive hours. You can change your chronotype, but it’s difficult. 
3. Schedule work how you work. Know your most productive time and put it in your calendar in chunks that let you do real Deep Work. No meetings, calls, emails, etc. during this time. For some people, this may mean splitting up your day: 2 hours admin, 2 hours deep work, 2 hours sales or training, etc. For others like myself, I like to dedicate an entire day (as much of it as possible outside very basic Process Work) to a big task and even a week or month theme to a big project where I try to focus as much as possible on that one thing. 
4. Improve discipline by planning. Discipline is making the good things easy to do (meal prep for eating right, exercise clothes ready for exercising, etc.) and making the bad things hard to do (no booze, junk food, toxic people, etc.) in your environment. 
5. Habitizing goals. Taking your goals and turning them into daily routines that are achievable is the source of an enormous amount of progress and success. For example, daily exercise, daily writing, ten daily business ideas or ten daily cold calls. 
6. Keep your Vision in mind. You can do all the productivity hacks in the world, but if you don’t remember why you’re even doing them day to day, then you may lose focus and motivation. Keep the “why” in mind. Something as simple as, “I’m building the next great X” on the top of your to-do list can be very helpful.
7. Understand and do Deep Work. Cal Newport’s book Deep Work shows that in an 8+ hour day, it’s not realistic to do more than 4–5 hours of real, thoughtful, valuable mental work where you are “in flow”. It can take up to 20 minutes to get into flow. Understanding this and doing Deep Work is the key to not mindlessly overworking for what is ultimately diminishing returns. 
8. Minimize interruptions and distractions. Because it requires sometimes 20 minutes or more to get into flow and one “Hey, you got a minute” interruption to kill flow, you need to minimize interruptions. Shut down email, and silence your phone (put it out of the room even). Disable all notifications on all devices that are not critical. Respect that your team may need to minimize interruptions as well. Request if they have time for a chat before a full interruption, then you can to go to email or discuss later. Note: Interruptions costs U.S. businesses $588 billion every year. Workers typically waste 28% of their day handling interruptions.
9. Identify and do Real Work vs. Process Work. “Process Work” (also known as Admin Work) is the recurring work that needs to get done for your customers but doesn’t improve or move the business forward. Make sure you and your staff do “Real Work” (projects that improve the company based on strategy and goals) instead of just Process Work all day—preferably first! Aim for at least 10% Real Work once operational and considerably more during startup. Note that most of your staff will probably think Real Work is Process Work so make sure they know the difference. Just because everyone is busy all day doesn’t mean things are moving forward. More on this in Step 5. 
10. Track your time. If you want to see how much “Real Work” you’re actually doing, track your time for a week or two in an app or spreadsheet. Most people are astonished when they methodically track what’s actually getting done. Those 60 Hour weeks are usually far shorter when measured in real work and even Process Work. A totally eye-opening experience for me was finding out that I was wasting half my week, mostly with distractions. This will also help you identify your ideal chronotype or the hours that you’re most productive.
11. Focus on 80/20 work. Closely related to Deep Work is the Pareto Principle (popularized by the book The 80/20 Principle) that says that 80% of results are going to come from only 20% of your effort (and this same principle is demonstrated throughout life: 20% of customers usually produce 80% of profits, 20% of criminals cause 80% of crime and so on). This also means the reverse: 80% of your time only accounts for 20% of your results, so it’s critical that you identify your 80/20 work and focus on that relentlessly. The key is identifying 80/20 work (Hint: it will likely be Deep Work), and it usually involves things with high payoffs: planning, creating, writing, building, selling, marketing, systemizing, and anything that moves your business forward or helps you create, scale, and market a better product or service to your customer. 
12. Force the work. Many times, there is some uninteresting and mundane work that needs to get done or you’re just having a hard time “getting down to it.” (This is something you’ll want to delegate as soon as possible.) You can punch through this by using the Pomodoro Technique or Cycles by Ultraworking, which help you focus on just doing one timed session or cycle of work at a time (20–40 minutes) followed by a short break. It forces you into Deep Work, and I highly recommend it; some people see 40% or more jumps in productivity. Another good mantra is “don’t think, just start.” The Chapter Resources has links to further details on these methods. 
13. Reading is working. As you’ll see later, almost all “leaders are readers” and reading is important work. Warren Buffett spends much of his work day just reading. Schedule regular time to read and don’t feel guilty; reading is real work, even if it’s fiction. (I find science fiction gives me great business ideas.) Obviously, there’s a balance, and I prefer action, but reading is great as long as you’re getting things done. 
14. Use flow and momentum. Sometimes, you have days or days of the week (for me this is usually a Wednesday or Thursday) where you are really getting into the flow of things and creative juices are just flowing, much how an athlete has bursts of activity. Try to use that momentum and keep going for as long as you can, but quit before you run out of gas so you can save some energy to reignite later. Don’t pull all-nighters unless they’re necessary. 
15. Say no a lot. If you spend hours and hours negotiating deals, contracts, or partnerships that don’t have great potential, then you’re probably wasting time; just pass on them. I think I’ve lost entire months to phone calls, meetings, and emails about deals that never even came close to materializing. Don’t tell everyone to pound sand, but you can say, “Sure, if you can send the details via email, then I can see if it’s something I want to discuss later.” 
16. Keep your promises. Nobody likes people that can’t show up on time or don’t do what they say they will do. If you want to be known as someone with Agency or even respected, you’ll respect others’ time by keeping your promises. 
17. Remember your Effective Hourly Rate (EHR). Discussed earlier, you probably want to put your EHR right at the top of your task list so you know the kinds of things you should spend your time on and the things that are not worth your immediate attention. This same principle applies for hiring. If you can hire someone for less than your EHR to do something that you hate, then that’s something to consider. Finally, some hires will make you even more money, so if someone costs $50k/year but makes you $100k/year (a good salesperson for example), then that’s a pretty easy decision. 
18. Delegate and elevate. The book Traction by Gino Wickman shows that leaders need to focus on what they’re best at, and this includes delegating what they hate or are not good at and focusing on what they are good at. You also need to admit when you need help. If you want to magically transform your business, get good at delegating. There’s more on this in Step 5.
19. Keep personal and business separate. Many founders become one with their business, and this can make you feel like you’re always working. Make sure to “clock out” at the end of the day, even if you work at home (literally close the door to your home office). Try to keep your personal communication separate from business. For example, keep a separate phone for business or don’t text/email with business contacts on your personal phone. 
20. Purge negativity from your life. Politics, news, social media, toxic people, interpersonal drama, and more can simply drain your energy. I recommend you cut out anyone or anything that doesn’t give you energy. Note that this includes that friend or employee who is “great”, but for some reason seems to just give you grief. They’d probably be better suited somewhere else, and your energy will skyrocket once they’re gone. Additionally, sometimes you simply have to fire a client who makes life miserable (and your team will love you for it). 
21. Triage when super busy. Sometimes, the amount of work is simply overwhelming and this usually comes in bursts. You may have hundreds of emails and tasks; ruthlessly prioritizing by important and urgent is the only way to stay sane. Tip: Set up an email autoresponder that says something like, “I’m in the middle of a huge project right now, so I’m not able to answer emails right away. Please text or call me if it is urgent.” Feel free to turn this on whenever you want, even if you just need a breather. Another tip: Sometimes you just need to ignore all communication for a while and trust that people will follow up with you directly if it’s urgent. There’s more tactics on email later in this chapter. 
22. Do mental reboots. When your computer gets slow and acts funky, then you know what to do: Reboot it. I believe humans should do the same. I have a specific “reboot protocol” I do whenever things start to get out of control that includes meditating for ten minutes (learning meditation properly is like taking a flamethrower to your “problems”), exercising, taking a hot then cold (contrast) shower, reviewing inspirational pictures, viewing a favorite movie, or just being grateful for what I have. This puts me back in the saddle mentally and prevents me from spiraling into a worse mindset. 
23. Spend money on your development. It still amazes me that some entrepreneurs will hesitate to spend a few bucks to get the premium version of their favorite software, buy a life-changing book, get a massage, or get the coaching or training they desperately need. Spend money on your personal development, and don’t feel guilty about it. It’s a business expense, anyway. 
24. Remember the work is never done. I used to have anxiety about the massive size of my task or reading lists until one day I realized this was silly and the work will never really be done and that’s fine. There’s no special reward for completing all your tasks, and any leader or forward-thinking human will always come up with more tasks each day, so what’s the point? Just make sure the important things get done. 

Productivity Tactics and Digital Fluency

These are massive time-saving tactics that will explode your productivity, especially if you’ve implemented the above-mentioned items. Adding digital tools to your productivity arsenal can also dramatically simplify your productivity. 

1. Learn the GTD system basics. Getting Things Done by David Allen is by far the most popular personal productivity system amongst entrepreneurs, and there’s a reason why; it’s an in-depth system that covers many aspects of getting organized and tracking projects and tasks. I recommend the book if you have time or at least one of the excellent summaries online (linked in the Chapter Summary). Here’s a bare-bones summary of overall principles to the system with some of my own interpretations:
   1. Collect and capture to clear your head. Capture everything into an inbox or task list so you can clear your head. Minimize and try to centralize your various inboxes or collection points: one email inbox (forward all of them to one inbox), one physical inbox (maybe one for remote work or home office), one task list, one note-taking application or notebook. 
   2. Inbox Zero. Process your inboxes (physical and virtual) regularly and try to get to Inbox Zero (zero items left) if your communication stream is capable of it. In the Chapter Resources, I list some apps that can help you with this process by filtering your email. 
   3. Correctly process incoming items. When processing incoming mail/email, etc., touch it once and take action or create a follow-up. You want to make a decision immediately. The average employee spends one month a year re-reading information without taking action—an enormous waste.
      1. Do it: If it takes less than a few minutes, just get it out of the way.
      2. Delegate it: Forward it to someone that can do it for you.
      3. Schedule it: Put it on your calendar or on your task list. 
      4. Defer or process later: Sometimes something is not urgent, and you want to read or review it later. 
      5. Delete it or archive it: Archive and label anything you want to reference later. 
      6. “Someday/Maybe” and “Waiting For” lists, labels, or folders. These are great for keeping items you may want to do later or items that you’re waiting on a response from. 
   4. Review regularly: Have at least a weekly review to process, prioritize, and organize all of the above. This is a critical step to making the system work. 
   5. Focus on action: The purpose of the whole system (that is lost on a lot of people) is to have a clear mind and more consistently take action on your tasks. A lot of people forget this and get lost on the specifics of the system. Review your task list and calendar daily and get the work done—that’s the point. Make sure tasks are broken down into simple actionable steps and are not vague like “write a book.” Finally, 10–15 tasks a day is probably enough before overwhelm kicks in (and you may need help); I prefer 5–10 or less. 
2. Use a digital task manager. There are literally hundreds of to-do and task management applications, many of which are GTD-friendly. Choose one you like and that you’ll actually use and works well on all of your preferred devices. Make sure it has recurring task capability so you can begin systemizing and delegating your recurring tasks. Consider one that allows your team to collaborate with you in addition to managing your personal tasks, one that easily allows you to delegate to others. 
3. Use a digital calendar. Even if you’re not extremely busy, I believe you should learn how to use a digital calendar effectively. I don’t know many successful founders who aren’t a calendar ninja. They usually know exactly what they’re doing for the next few weeks and can pull it up immediately if they need to schedule something. Get good at scheduling and using proper notifications and reminders.
4. Maintain routine checklists. Checklists of weekly, monthly, and quarterly tasks (don’t do repeat tasks haphazardly, do them in batches) added to your recurring tasks and calendar. Do this for your company’s tasks and your personal tasks as well. This is a big head start on systemizing your business and delegating covered in later steps. There’s much more on this in Step 5. 
5. Take good notes and keep lists. You’ll be learning a lot of new stuff so keep good notes. Use a notebook or software you can access from all devices. Again, for simplicity I prefer one electronic document for everything related to your company’s operations like the Startups Made Simple Planner. Trust me, it’s way better to get bad notes now then try to salvage them from memory later. Use folders, notebooks, or tags to organize by topic. Advanced notetakers and knowledge workers should definitely consider creating a “commonplace book” or “second brain” for which I have recommendations in the Chapter Resources. 
6. Learn email hacks. Email is vastly superior in almost every way as a form of communication. It is easily searchable, you can add attachments, cc people, review the conversation, star it, save it, forward it, forward/copy/paste into task software, etc. As said by Naval Ravikant, “Text is precise, compact, indexable, transmissible, translatable, asynchronous and quick to absorb. Intelligent, busy people prefer text.” 
   1. Check email as few times a day as possible and either reply now (if it takes a few minutes or less) or star for later and archive (label if you want). 
   2. Star everything that’s not resolved or for which you’re waiting on something and archive (to get it out of the inbox). 
   3. Once a day, check starred items top to bottom and take action or update anyone who is waiting on you or vice versa. 
   4. Be brief, thoughtful, and clear. Use one email thread per topic (nobody likes going through eight different emails on the same subject) with a clear, searchable subject for easy finding later. 
   5. Put what action you are looking for in the email (use #s if multiple items).  Many times I get emails from people that I have no idea what to do with. Just ask the question or ask for the task to be done. Highlight in red if it’s an action item that is buried in a longer email. 
   6. Only “Reply to All” if you’re adding something everyone needs to know. Keep it as short as possible, add supporting info (links, invoice #s, all relevant info to make a decision), and make sure you are clear (you’re either communicating something or asking for something).
   7. If you need to update yourself or add more data, forward the email to yourself with the additional text, attachments, etc.
   8. Create a “Process Later” folder and a recurring calendar reminder to check it regularly. Put everything that you don’t want to deal with now or can wait until the next scheduled review. If I know something can wait until my next Weekly Review on Monday, I throw it in that folder. To get to Inbox Zero now, Star important emails from the past few days, select all emails in your inbox and move them to this folder. 
   9. Create a “Waiting” folder and a recurring calendar reminder to check it regularly, usually during a Weekly Review.
7. Get an assistant. Some people simply cannot, for various reasons, integrate any of these tactics into their own life, have more tasks than one person can do, or may have disorders like ADHD. If that’s the case, then I recommend you get an assistant who is familiar with all of the concepts above (have them read this chapter and print out these lists) and let them manage your inbox, calendar and task list. A great assistant can be a game-changer in your effectiveness. 

A Sample Day

You can probably gather by the length and depth of this section on productivity that this is one of my personal strengths. I’ve been informally coaching people on productivity for a while, and one of the things that illustrates this best and others have found helpful is how a sample day works for me.

My Productivity Guidelines:

• Remove the inessential: Unnecessary meetings, low-priority projects and negative people. 
• Goals List. I keep a list of goals for myself and the business. The business goals are known by everyone on the team and are prioritized quarterly. 
• One big focus: I work best when I have one big project that I focus on until it’s complete. Sometimes more, but usually I have one big project that takes the most of my time. 
• Automate: Most of my bills are on autopay or come through digitally. If there’s a routine or workflow I can easily delegate or automate, then I do. 
• Delegate: I’ve documented and systemized my Process Work and delegated most of it to others, especially work I dislike. 
• Meetings: No meetings before 1:00 p.m., and I try to stack them all on one day a week, one after the other. I don’t have meetings unless absolutely necessary and especially if a phone call, screen-share, or emails will work. 
• Emails: I prefer almost everything in writing for tracking, accountability, and for many other reasons mentioned above. Inbox Zero daily. I despise voicemail, and phone calls usually make me simply have to write things down, which is why I prefer email in the first place. (FYI, several CEOs that have reviewed this book mentioned that this was their favorite bullet-point in the whole book.)
• Momentum: I don’t expect the same level of productivity each day and tend to go with momentum when I hit it. Some days, I’ll get a week’s worth of work done and other days a lot less. 
• Capture: I capture all tasks and ideas immediately using task management or note software on my computer and devices. 
• Weekly review: Clear inboxes, review calendar and goals, and set tasks for the week. I pick 1–3 big things to get done that week. 
• Monthly/Yearly I review and assess how I’m doing on my goals and prioritize new ones. 

My Daily Routine:

• I’m a night owl, so I wake up pretty late, usually without an alarm, open the blinds, and get some sunlight.
• I go into the kitchen and start the coffee/tea machine and take my supplement stack (vitamins). I rarely eat breakfast as it tends to make me sluggish. While coffee or tea is brewing, I go into the bathroom, brush my teeth, and dress for the day. 
• I grab my drink and may chat with my family for a bit, then go into my office or home office. Notice that I’ve not checked email or news at this point. The night before, I’ve reviewed what I need to get done today, so I already know what the day looks like, more or less, and am prepared to get right to work. 
• Check email and team chat. If I’m not working on a big project, then I scan email for important things and clear my inbox. I use an email filtering service so what used to be over 100 emails is usually around 10. If I have time, I clear out the other folders (where the filters have moved unimportant emails). 
• I glance at my task list and calendar to review what needs to get done today. Most of these tasks will be Process Work that I haven’t deemed necessary to delegate to others, so I get them done first before I do Deep Work later. Also, I find that doing Process Work first builds momentum to go into Deep Work. Some people like to reverse this order (and also check email after Deep Work) but this works best for me because my creativity peaks later in the day.
• I have 4 hours on my calendar nearly every business day for Deep Work, typically from 2:00–6:00 p.m. This is where I turn off all distractions, chat programs, etc. and work on my top project and get into flow. 
• During Deep Work I take breaks of 5–10 minutes every hour or so. During some breaks, I exercise with kettlebells or bodyweight, right in my office, which will take care of exercise for the day. 
• After Deep Work, I go home and spend several hours with my family, have dinner, relax, and read or listen to music. The point of all the other steps and this book in general is to have plenty of time for this. 
• Later in the night, I review my task list one last time to make sure things are done and reschedule and re-prioritize tasks if necessary. Sometimes I’ll work and clear emails and tasks, but only if I feel like it. I’ll review what needs to get done tomorrow so my brain can think about solutions while I sleep. 
• If I have time or feel like it, I will do business reading a few nights per week: books (mostly ebooks), articles I’ve saved in email, or “read later” apps like Instapaper. I’ll save ideas, highlights, and articles in my note-taking app (Evernote) so I can find them later. 
• Shower, relax, and personal reading or Internet until bedtime. (Sometimes I’ll check the news but that’s becoming increasingly rare.) I don’t really watch TV but may put on a movie. 

As you can see, though I’ve adopted the many skills, habits, and tools in the lists above, the actual routine once you’ve internalized and learned them is simple and most days are usually never more than 5 or 6 working hours long (up to 4 of those being Deep Work, which I usually enjoy). I don’t even have an assistant. The best part is that I get more done now than when I was working 10 or more frazzled, interrupted hours per day before I adopted this workflow (the 80/20 Principle and Deep Work let me get much more done with less work). 

Now, my productivity is basically on autopilot, I don’t really think about it and things get done, even exercise. Once you’ve learned your basic routine and internalized these principles, then begin ruthlessly simplifying your day until you only do what you’re best at and what you enjoy doing all day. It took me years to figure out this ideal workflow, so I highly recommend you do the same and watch your productivity soar.

This was an excerpt from our book Startups Made Simple: How to Start, Grow and Systemize Your Dream Business. Learn more about the book here or see our previous excerpts here.

A lot of small business owners are vaguely aware of the Federal government passing various laws related to the Covid-19 virus, but it’s not 100% clear on exactly what is in them (some bills are over 1000 pages!) or how we can utilize the benefits.

This guide aims to make it clear in plain English what’s available and how to get it. Note that there are some qualifications and addendums that this may not be 100% accurate to your specific small business, but should apply to 99% of small businesses out there. 

Summary:

• You can apply online and get $10,000 in 3 business days for free if you don’t qualify for a regular SBA loan.
• You can get 2.5 times your monthly payroll in a loan that has 6 months without payments, 1% interest and can largely be forgiven if you use it to cover payroll. 
• You can apply for both programs above. 
• You can get tax credits for paying required sick time under new rules. 

Who Is This Guide For? 

Since 99% of employers have 50 employees or less, this guide is only for private businesses (including sole proprietors) with less than 50 employees (not owned by other businesses). If you have more than 50 then we recommend our Small Business Action Plan article which lists the various laws and benefits that apply to those with 500 to 51 employees. 

What’s Available?

First, let’s get clear on the help that’s available. I won’t confuse you with the various legislation “Act” names and other things that just tend to make things hard to understand. Here is the help that’s available. 

Resource #1: $10,000 Grant and up to $2 million Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL)

Pay attention, because this is somewhat confusing if you’re not familiar with how SBA loans work. Typically, the Small Business Administration (SBA) will help businesses get loans that suffer from a disaster and this is called an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). Private banks actually give the loans but they are guaranteed by the SBA. 

You can get approved for up to $2 million depending on your credit, etc. Importantly, they’ve waived a “personal guarantee” of loans under $200,000 – that’s huge. 

This new resource is different – it’s a grant that you can get right away (within 3 business days) and you don’t have to pay back if you don’t qualify for the EIDL loan! This is basically free money to any small business who can claim they are being affected by Covid-19 and don’t qualify for other SBA loans.

How to Apply

Visit https://covid19relief.sba.gov and simply complete the application online. The information is fairly simple and you should have the required information on hand or at least be able to estimate most required information (annual revenue, cost of goods sold, etc.). So, you will be applying for an EIDL but you will automatically be given the $10,000 grant to cover payroll and other qualified business expenses within 3 business days. 

NOTE: Make sure to check this box at the end of the application to apply for the $10,000 Grant portion of the EIDL. 

How Long Will It Take?

As mentioned, you can get the Grant in 3 business days. EIDL loans will take longer but the government is trying to expedite. I’ll update this page when I know more. 

More Information

Visit the SBA website. You can also contact the SBA directly by calling 1-800-659-2955 or via email at [email protected] 

Resource #2: Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan up to $10 Million

NOTE: This program is starting April 3rd for businesses and April 10 for independent contractors but we believe that some banks are accepting applications now. Best to get in line first. Note that you can apply to this one as well as the EIDL above but this loan seems to have better interest rates and forgiveness. 

As long as you have fewer than 500 employees and were in business on or before February 15, 2020 (and can certify that Covid-19 has negatively impacted your business), you can get a loan for 2.5 times your average monthly payroll (for previous 12 months) up to $10 million. 

So, for example, if your payroll is $40,000/month then you could get $40,000 X 2.5 = $100,000. There are no payments for 6 months, no collateral or personal guarantees and the interest rate is 1%. The term is for 2 years.

NOTE: What you pay 1099 contractors are NOT included in this amount since they can apply for the PPP on their own.

Even better, here’s more details from the SBA:

 “The loan will be fully forgiven if the funds are used for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities (due to likely high subscription, at least 75% of the forgiven amount must have been used for payroll). Loan payments will also be deferred for six months. No collateral or personal guarantees are required. Neither the government nor lenders will charge small businesses any fees.”

Apparently, whatever is used within the first 8 weeks will be forgiven on the loan. This is another fantastic opportunity for small businesses. If your business has been affected by Covid-19 then I’m not seeing much harm in applying for this loan. There are no prepayment penalties, the interest rate is low and a good portion of the loan can be forgiven. 

How to Apply

You have to apply directly with an existing SBA-approved bank. Here’s a list of their top 100 lenders but I would recommend you contact your existing bank and see if they are an SBA-approved lender and if not, whom they recommend.  Here’s the sample application form from the Treasury Department – download that and then get your information and documentation ready to go because it may take some time to get approved. The better your information the faster you get approved! 

How Long Will It Take?

The government says they are encouraging bankers to expedite these loans, some in days so ask your banker and make sure you get your documents ready to go. I’ll update this page when I know more. 

Resource #3: Tax Credits for Employees Dealing with Covid-19

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA or Act) requires certain employers to provide their employees with paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19. These provisions will apply from April 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020.

Here are the qualifying reasons: 

1. is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19;
2. has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine related to COVID-19;
3. is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and is seeking a medical diagnosis;
4. is caring for an individual subject to an order described in (1) or self-quarantine as described in (2);
5. is caring for his or her child whose school or place of care is closed (or child care provider is unavailable) due to COVID-19 related reasons; or [SEE BELOW FOR IMPORTANT EXCLUSIONS FOR SMALL BUSINESS]
6. is experiencing any other substantially-similar condition specified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

However, the Department of Labor is exempting certain businesses with fewer than 50 employees. From the Department of Labor: 

“The FFCRA covers private employers with fewer than 500 employees and certain public employers. Small employers with fewer than 50 employees may qualify for an exemption from the requirement to provide paid leave due to school, place of care, or child care provider closings or unavailability, if the leave payments would jeopardize the viability of their business as a going concern.” 

Specifically:

“Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees, including religious and nonprofit organizations, are exempt from two aspects of the FFCRA’s provisions — (1) paid sick leave due to school closure, place of care closure or child care provider unavailability for COVID-19 related reasons; and (2) emergency paid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) — when doing so would jeopardize the viability of the business, DOL said. An “authorized officer” of the business must determine whether it meets this criteria, according to the guidance.” 

So if you have 50 or less employees and you are an “authorized officer” and can clearly document that complying with the act would jeopardize the viability of the business then you are exempt from point #5 above specifically and perhaps the others. I will update this section when I have more guidance. 

What You Have to Provide to Employees

Send your employees (full and part time) the Official Notice and follow the instructions for posting it correctly (email will work if you send it to all employees). 

You will pay the required sick time (which is in addition to any current sick time or PTO offered). However, you will get a tax credit for the sick time. For example, if you owe $8000 in taxes to the IRS for payroll but you paid out $5000 in sick time, you only have to deposit $3000. Many payroll providers have already added the category of “emergency” pay to their systems to properly track this and make sure you get proper refunds. Make sure you track this as well. 

More Information

1. IRS Summary of the Bill
2. Employer obligations in the new bill
3. What employers need to know
4. What it means for small business

Summary

Update: Here’s a nice summary of the various other benefits of the CARES Act.

I’ve spent much of the last week or two reviewing articles, PDFs, webinars and emails and none of them really made it clear how easy it was to apply for some quick cash and what a good deal the loans are, especially the PPP. I recommend every small business owner to consider taking advantage of these benefits if your business is even remotely affected by Covid-19. 

Have any other advice or tactics that can help? I will continue to update this page with everything I can. Leave a comment below or email me matt – at – mycompanyworks.com.

Please stay positive, healthy and safe!

Matt Knee
Founder/President
MyCompanyWorks, Inc.

Below is an excerpt from our book Startups Made Simple: How to Start, Grow and Systemize Your Dream Business. Learn more about the book here.  

Next in line and closely related to Agency is Resourcefulness. As a founder of a startup with limited resources (and all but the most well-funded startups have limited resources), you need to learn a lot, stretch every dollar, do more with less, solve the big problems, land the big meetings or deals, and build the great product or service. Frugality is a related trait. 

You will never have the resources to do everything you want, so you have to be Resourceful and figure out how to acquire the resources you need to succeed. Again, very similar to Agency but worth mentioning as all businesses are about prioritizing resources. 

How to Build Resourcefulness

Admit to yourself that you will never have enough resources to do everything you want and that you must prioritize, make trade-offs, and use your existing resources as much as possible. Learn to make do with what you have at this time, and strategize to get what you need to take you to the next step in your plan. 

Resourceful people look for answers and solutions themselves and don’t need their handheld. For example, later I recommend you choose and use a digital calendar and task manager. Now, I could provide all kinds of recommendations, instructions, steps, and even step-by-step screenshots of how to set them up and use them. However, I promised not to waste your time and I’m going to trust that you’re Resourceful enough to click “Help” on the website or app and read the most up-to-date information in learning these tools. When you have employees, you want them to be Resourceful too and not need constant hand-holding.

Being Resourceful also means knowing what not to focus on, and one thing I see startup founders do a lot is jump over dollars to get to pennies. You definitely need to be frugal in a startup, but obsessing over anything under $100 is likely not worth your time unless you’re completely broke. 

Worrying about costs under $100 will send you down a rabbit hole of frustration and lost time. You’ll spend half the day and all your mental reserves chasing down, arguing, and contesting a $49 charge with the merchant, your credit card company, or bank.

Also, don’t be cheap with yourself. It’s much better to have the good cup of coffee and a decent meal than live like you’re in a prison camp. Treat yourself every now and then. Otherwise, what’s the point of it all? 

One way to value your time more is to know your Effective Hourly Rate (EHR). This is the amount that your time is worth and is based on your income divided by the number of hours you work. Remember it and post it on your computer or the top of your to-do list. If you don’t know your income or don’t have any, then set it at $100/hour. I’m serious; founder work is easily worth that if you’re being effective. 

Also for motivation, always remember, “I’m being paid $100/hour for this; this is valuable work.” If you have extra time, handle the small stuff, put it on a list to do later, or get a virtual assistant. The best business people pay others to make problems go away. 

This was an excerpt from our book Startups Made Simple: How to Start, Grow and Systemize Your Dream Business. Learn more about the book here or see our previous excerpts here.

To all small business owners:

I’m not going to sugarcoat it, these next few months could get pretty bad for small business, so I’m putting together an Action Plan to help us survive and thrive. The government is stepping in but let’s get clear on exactly what our next steps should be.

Always remember that great businesses have survived and even been created during recessions or disasters so stay healthy, keep your mindset positive and let’s get to work.

I believe we should all focus on these main things at the moment:

Step 1: Do a Quick Break Even Analysis

You need to know how much money you need to keep operating on a monthly or even weekly basis. So fire up a spreadsheet (this doesn’t have to be perfect, just get some numbers down) – I’ve made one for you here – and open your accounting software or books and calculate the expenses which are “fixed” and you cannot quickly change (realistically). This would include things like salaries, rent, utilities, software, insurance, etc.

Then add your income from all sources. Just go through your monthly profit and loss statement and add any of these items to your spreadsheet. I would do a “recent” month to see what’s normal and then a “worst case” to calculate the total to see what we’re dealing with.

If it’s negative (and it likely will be), then we now know roughly how much we may need to cut (or lower prices, etc. to boost sales).

NOTE: If you want to dive into the numbers further, you can calculate your variable and per-unit costs as well. This is a good article to follow for that.

Step 2: Reassure Customers and Pivot If Necessary

If your business has not been closed down then make sure to reassure your customers you are open either via email, signage or even call them and then let them know your action plan. See our action plan here for some ideas; here’s a template you can use as well. Mostly, you want to assure your customers that you are open and are taking precautions for your employees and customers safety.

For example, if you run a restaurant, you’ll want to mention how you’re using gloves, masks, increased sanitizing schedules, etc. to make people confident they can order from you. Basically, if you handle any physical items that a customer will receive you need to reassure them you’re taking precautions.

Some businesses may consider a quick “Pivot” in their business model to deal with the virus. For example, if you’re a restaurant, consider adding delivery or take out. If you sell physical items retail, it’s time to consider shipping to customers if you don’t currently (setup a website as well if you don’t have one). If you typically cater to large events, consider smaller venues or pivot towards smaller events or individuals.

NOTE: There are many quick ways to get an online website and ordering system setup that require “no code” – try Makerpad for example who is offering this for free right now. Yorcue is doing this as well and has an app that can schedule pick up and delivery for your business.

For example, most of the Las Vegas Strip has been shut down but the meat and restaurant food providers are making menus and posting them on Facebook to sell that food to individuals. If you run a landscaping company, you could add on services like delivery or trash disposal for customers. Get creative and see what you can pivot towards for the down turn.

Look how fast this company pivoted:

Other quick business ideas:

• Cleaning and sanitizing services
• Sanitizer and mask manufacturing
• Task services: delivery of anything by trained and sanitized staff
• Remote office consulting and setup
• Twitter thread: What new or existing companies will thrive during coronavirus?
• 10 Industries that will be winners in the stay-home economy
• 100+ Ways to Make Money on the Internet
• Some companies are offering their paid training and other software or resources for free.

Step 3: Cut Expenses

We’ve had several years of a really good economy and I think a lot of us have allowed various things to crawl onto our credit card statements and into our payables inbox, and we just sort of dismissed them. Now’s the time to go through those and cancel, reduce or renegotiate those services.

So go through each item on your spreadsheet and see what you can do to reduce these. The spreadsheet I provided has a column for that. Think outside the box here: call your landlord (or any vendor) and ask for a discount, delay of 30-90 days or similar.

People are going to be understanding now while the panic is starting, but not necessarily in 2 months so start now. Your pitch to vendors like landlords: “I can pay you partially/in 30/60/90 days or I can go out of business and not pay anything – what would you prefer?”.

Unless your business is very dependent on something that is essentially shutdown (travel, sports, events, etc.) then be cautious about dialing back advertising or marketing at this point. You may want to closely review your accounts and trim the fat but don’t fail to get the word out at all. Remember that many businesses thrived in recessions or depressions.

Next, be very, very cautious about cutting salaries, reducing hours or benefits until you have all the information about what the Small Business Administration or Federal Government may provide you (see below).

Cutting people, salary, hours or benefits will likely have a demoralizing effect and you don’t want to do it more than once if absolutely required. At the least keep communication very clear with your staff – some may actually volunteer for reduced hours or even a 30 or 60 day furlough to spend more time at home.

Personally, I would try to cut other expenses, boost sales and/or pivot (see steps below) first before cutting staff.

Recommended Articles: How to Cut Expenses and The Virus Survival Strategy for Startups

Step 4: Boost Sales and Cash Flow if Possible

Now would be the time to run any promotions, sales or specials. Cutting prices may be unavoidable to just get cash flow going. So consider having a sale and make sure to promote it after reassuring your customers.

Local businesses, if you have gift certificates then now is the time to promote them. A lot of people want to support small business now and that’s by far the easiest way to get cash in your pocket now. Some places are offering the equivalent of a bond: pay $75 now to get $100 in the future, etc.

If you have outstanding receivables you may want to follow up with those, especially from customers who can easily weather the storm. Also, be careful of taking on new customers that may not pay so be very careful about extending credit without proven payments or deposits.

Recommended Article: Marketing Your Way Through a Recession

Step 5: Understand the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), CARES Act (H.R. 6201) and Federal Grants and Loans

The bill was just signed into law and provides mandatory paid sick time and other long term leave for those diagnosed or helping others with Covid-19. It applies to businesses with fewer than 500 employees (but those with 50 or fewer may be exempt). Here’s a few summaries:

FFCRA:

1. IRS Summary of the Bill
2. Employer obligations in the new bill
3. What employers need to know
4. What does it mean for working Americans
5. What it means for small business

CARES Act:

1. Summary of the CARES Act
2. Another summary from Reddit
3. Emergency Loans summary from US Chamber of Commerce

We will update this post with a checklist of items for small business employers as we learn more, but for now, those articles above seem to be the most comprehensive. Please leave a comment if you have a better link or more accurate information.

There are really good sources of funds available right now. So much so that we’ve written a separate post on How to Get Covid-19 Funds For Your Small Business.

Other Sources of Loans:

• Kabbage – Loans & MCA
• BlueVine –  Loans 
• Clearbanc – Loans 
• PNC – Line of Credit
• Forward Financing – MCA
• Total Merchant Resources – Loans & MCA

Fundraisers and More:

Some small businesses have started raffling off prizes and starting a “GoFundMe” page to get community donations and support. Quickbooks is sponsoring GoFundMe’s as well.

Here’s a list of Small Business Relief programs by state.

Anything Else?

Have any other advice or tactics that can help? I will continue to update this page with everything I can. Leave a comment below or email me matt – at – mycompanyworks.com.

Please stay positive, healthy and safe!

Matt Knee
Founder/President
MyCompanyWorks, Inc.

To our Customers, Partners and Vendors:

First, the #1 priority for us now is the safety of our team and I’m happy to report that our entire team is healthy for now and we are open for business.

Next, we’re offering 20% off on our business formation packages for customers until the quarantine is over – just enter offer code COVID at checkout to save 20% off our fees!

NOTE: If you are a small business owner then we’ve created separate guides to help you survive and thrive:

1. Covid-19 Small Business Action Plan
2. How to Get Funds for Your Small Business Right Now

We’ve had remote employees for over a decade and that experience will serve us well while we deal with the Covid-19 virus. We maintain real-time communication between all employees during business hours. Most of our workflow is digital now.

Also, our main Nevada and Wyoming offices have been briefed on best practices for safety and hygiene including sanitizing, social distancing and not coming to work if sick. We’ve even taken precautions on handling mail and signing for documents. We have very little customer foot traffic so that’s not a primary concern but we will limit that as well.

That said, there may be some interruptions and delay in service that you should be aware of:

1. The Secretary of State (or equivalent department) in each state is starting to reduce staff, hours, acceptance of hand-delivered documents and some are outright expected to close soon. If you order a filing in one of these states, we’ll notify you of any delay.
2. We expect a delay from the IRS soon in issuing Federal Employer Identification Numbers (FEINs or “EINs”). UPDATE: As of March 23rd the IRS is not issuing EINs to individuals without Social Security Numbers and their phone system is unresponsive. Click here for updates from IRS.
3. Our vendors for things like Corporate Kits, Registered Agent and more are experiencing the same quarantines we are for the most part so there may be some delays in service but mostly they are operational.
4. Many of our staff have children whose schools are now closed so they’re performing “double duty” of working and homeschooling so we may not be as fast as before but we’ll do our best.

We will update this page if anything should change but for now, we’re open and happy to provide the same service we have since 2001. This company launched a month after 9/11 and survived the great recession of 2008 so we know how to operate in lean times. Also the founder (me) is a germ freak so that’s helpful in this particular situation :). Here’s a checklist I made for employees, friends and family which you are welcome to copy.

Finally, because we know small businesses will be having a rough few months, we’re willing to waive late fees, extend deadlines and work with you on any recurring bills you have with us. Just ask and we’ll do whatever we can to help you out while we get through this.

Thanks and stay safe and healthy! If you have questions email [email protected], call us at 800-326-1362 or email me directly at my first name @mycompanyworks.com.

Matt Knee
Founder/President