Giles Cadman 
Every successful entrepreneur knows that time is more valuable than money. The moment your earning potential is tied to the number of hours in your day, then you have the same earning potential as every other person in the world "“ and that's not something to strive for!
As an entrepreneur, you need to change this link between your time and your earning potential. This link is essentially what differentiates entrepreneurs from business owners, because they are fundamentally different in the ways they go about running a company.
Entrepreneurs talk about business plans and ideas, but are not part of the execution process. Entrepreneurs generate profits from the efforts of others, where as business owners do not because they are still heavily involved and focused on doing what they sell.
An example of this is a chef that opens a restaurant: the chef is not yet an entrepreneur. But if the chef makes a menu, teaches other people how to make the food, and can take a step back from the business "“ then the chef is an entrepreneur because he is generating profits from the efforts of others.
That said, I often dip into the businesses I run, but this is not out of necessity. It’s because I honestly enjoy being included in some of the processes.
With these distinctions in mind, here are the 4 steps to separating your earning potential from time restrictions, and in turn increasing both your time and money.
1. Change your mindset
From an early age, we've been told to get a good job, put in our time, wait for a promotion, and then hopefully retire with some savings when we reach the age of 65.
To be a successful entrepreneur, you must unlearn the unwritten rule that says we need to trade time for money, as this way of thinking will absolutely cripple your abilities.
The key is to create value for money, not time. You need to think about what value you can create for the people you serve and work on ways to deliver that value.
2. Build a reputation based on authority
Entrepreneurs also need to find a way to convince people that they are the ones to deliver this value, not their competitors.
But convincing people of your value takes time, and authority, so entrepreneurs need to focus on creating authority and building up an expertise surrounding your service or product.
Becoming an authority will also help people discover your product of service in the first place and can help to bring in more business. Your product could be the best of the best, but it doesn't make a difference if no one knows about it!
Some factors to becoming an authority include keeping a blog (as I do), connecting with the press and media, and having testimonials posted about your business on your website.
Having a large and authoritative presence will help you in creating more business opportunities and will save time in sales and marketing in the long run.
3. Hire and delegate
This might be slightly embarrassing to admit, but I've actually never used an ATM until last year because I've never needed to!
As an entrepreneur, all you need to focus on is doing what you do best. For the rest of it, hire other people and delegate the work to them.
When you run your own business, you don't want to be wasting your time on what I call the "$10-15" an hour tasks, such as scheduling appointments or doing payroll. You need to be focusing on the "$100" an hour tasks "“ such as creating a business proposal, or securing your next big client.
Once you learn how to delegate, you'll be able to focus on the bigger picture and not to sweat the little stuff.
4. Always be thinking about what's next
The final step to get more time and money is to always be thinking about what you can do next.
Whether it's creating a product that you can focus on selling, rewarding yourself for your hard work, or scouting out the next big client "“ try not to get stuck in the now.
Easier said than done, I know, but it's extremely important to the growth of your business to keep thinking about your next move.
Do you agree that entrepreneurs should focus on trading value for money instead of time? Write your thoughts below!
