How to Build a Business Others Want to Buy

Chapter 12How to work on the business, not in it

Dwight D Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States, once said, ‘I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.’

The Eisenhower Urgent/Important Matrix popularised by Stephen Covey in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, was named in his honour.

Entrepreneurs often prioritise ‘urgent’ over ‘important’ because they are addicted to the adrenaline rush (the dopamine trap) that comes with completing something in the nick of time. But it's the important tasks that offer an entrepreneur the greatest rewards. The Eisenhower Matrix is used as a tool to help entrepreneurs overcome this common bias, as it factors in the importance of a task along with its urgency.

The Eisenhower Matrix

Figure 12.1 shows what the matrix looks like. It's still in existence because it's still relevant and it still works.

Figure 12.1 the Eisenhower ‘Urgent/Important’ Matrix

What tasks fall into each quadrant?

Technicians spend most of their time in Quadrant 1, which is why they fail to grow substantial companies. Owners spend most of their time in Quadrant 2, which is why they do.

Here's a summary of the activities that fall into each quadrant. Where do you spend most of your time?

• Quadrant 1 activities: important and urgent (do)
  • deadlines
  • last-minute ...