6 Cures for Procrastination

Each fall, SMEs resolve to focus on business development in the coming year. Many complete detailed business plans. Then, the rigors of work and life overcome them. Before they know it, spring break is upon them. Then summer vacation. Then Labor Day, and the responsibility for explaining why their best laid plans failed, before they make a new plan for the next year.

Before you find yourself in the vicious cycle described above, here are some cures for procrastination that can help make 2025 the year you achieve your business development stretch goals.

The 6 cures for procrastination are: desperation, anger, desire, a ball-buster, results, and a one-time-only mindset. The cures can be remembered by their acronym: DAD BRO. 

1. Desperation

Intense need is a well-known motivator. If your job or your ability to make payroll are dependent upon your business development prowess, you’re likely to do whatever it takes to get those clients and revenues in the door. However, most SMEs lack urgency or desperation around business development. If anyone is breathing down our necks, it is usually to get us to bill more hours not to generate more new matters. So, if there is no gun to your head, there must have been another reason that you set business development goals. There must have been something that you wanted. Perhaps it wasn’t a desperate desire. Maybe it was more casual. Remind yourself of what it was and recognize that this may be your last chance to achieve it. Life is constantly changing. Maybe you wanted to pursue a different career when you were younger, but you delayed pursuing it and the opportunity never re-emerged. Now, you no longer have the talent or potential for that field or profession. With that prior experience in mind, if you can’t be desperate about business development, be desperate about not making the same mistake twice. 

2. Anger

Getting ticked off can be ammunition as well. Think of great athletes such as Michael Jordan who was cut from his junior varsity team in high school and somehow used this juvenile slight to fuel his way to a 6 and 0 record in NBA Finals appearances or Tom Brady who was the 199^th pick in the NFL draft and became a 7-time Superbowl champion. Has anyone doubted you or your ability to bring in new business or grow your existing clientele? If so, prove them wrong.

3. Desire

Sometimes the motivation comes from within. Are you the person you need to prove something to? Have you been avoiding business development because you’re afraid to put yourself out there? If so, you’ll likely never forgive yourself if you don’t at least try. Warren Buffet says he once did door-to-door sales to cure himself of a fear of talking to people. What do you hope to gain from becoming adept at business development: an equity partnership, a large bonus for a major purchase, more self-confidence, less fear, a career change? Maybe you want to run with the big dogs. Let that desire cure your tendency to drag your feet.  

4. Ball-Buster

With many people having now worked remotely for such a long time, the tendency to procrastinate may be the result of not having anyone to prod you along. Very few of us want to admit that there are benefits to working together in an office setting. We get ideas and inspiration from in-person interaction with our peers. If you fought hard to get this hybrid-work benefit, you may need to create a ball-buster for yourself so you can keep your work arrangement and meet your business development objectives. Using technology and going public with your objectives are ways to force yourself to stay on task. Post your intentions in the firm’s CRM or in your business plan that you submit to your practice leader. Even publish them on social media. Going public makes you accountable to others. Not wanting to fail publicly can be as scary as a ball-busting boss breathing down your neck. Use this self-created boogey man as the impetus to subvert procrastination.  

5. Results

Have you ever noticed how whatever streak you’re on, whether winning or losing, you tend to stay on for a while? So, get on a roll. Start by getting your first win. If you’re having trouble landing a big fish, set your sights lower. Get a small win under your belt. The feeling of winning breeds confidence, and confidence is attractive. Your energy becomes magnetic. Then, you can redirect this positive energy towards the big fish at which you originally were aiming.

6. One-Time Only

If you’re having difficulty getting in the mindset for business development tasks, it may be helpful to know that if you do it once, you’ll never have to do it again. This is so because once you attract a group of clients and serve them well, they will renew their contracts with you, refer you clients like them, and act as your references when you pursue new logos. In other words, your existing clients will become your source of the 3 Rs: Renewals, Referrals and References. The 3 Rs are the endgame of business development activity. Once you have the 3 Rs, you’ll no longer have to engage in outbound business development activities. It’s kind of like an athlete who wins their first championship. A certain respect and aura surround a winner. You’ll still need to show up during the playoffs or major tournaments as there will be others trying to knock you off your perch. However, you’ll no longer need to hustle to get to the top. So, do it once this year, in 2025, and get it over with. Then, you can ride that reputation to the destination of your choosing.

One of these motivators should be sufficient to kick you into gear and stop you from twiddling your thumbs. Therefore, the prescription for delaying or avoiding your business development tasks is one heaping spoonful of DAD BRO.