There’s a lot of discussion between the likes of Gary Vaynerchuk and Tai Lopez, debating whether you should work harder or work smarter.  In a situation like this, on one end you have Gary V who believes in working hard, whereas on the other you have Tai Lopez, who sells the idea of working smarter i.e. investing in self education.

Gary V pushes the hustle you have to do when you start a recruitment business. I can really resonate with this, because in the beginning it is all about working hard. You need to put in the hours and the effort in order to be able to take that step towards freedom. Before my time as a business owner I worked in a recruitment firm, where the culture was to be the first one in the office and the last one to leave. I knew that to tear away from that, I was going to have to work ‘smarter’. This is where Tai Lopez comes in. From Tai I discovered the importance of systemising your business and building processes that could be completed by anyone, not just myself. As a result of this, I now have Monday’s off and work the hours that I choose which allows me to maintain that great work-life balance.

Working smarter is really the way to go when you want to build your recruitment business. It’s funny, because I work less hours, yet make more money. This is because I’m focused on the hours that I put in, where I produce good, quality work. Then in my free time, I’m able to work on my coaching business or on personal development - so I’m still technically working, just on the business, rather than in it.

To summarise, in the beginning you will work harder, however as the business grows you must learn to work smarter. Technically, you should be working less and less the better your business does. It’s important to build your business around the lifestyle that you want, not around you as an individual. There are so many business owners who are unhappy outside of work, as they’re extremely immersed and very involved in the business. The easy way to prevent this is building a lifestyle business, in which you’re able to delegate the tasks and source them to the right people.