{"id":192,"date":"2017-11-10T03:35:50","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T03:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.originatemoredeals.com\/?p=192"},"modified":"2020-10-09T13:07:45","modified_gmt":"2020-10-09T13:07:45","slug":"how-do-private-equity-professionals-originate-more-deals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.originatemoredeals.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/10\/how-do-private-equity-professionals-originate-more-deals\/","title":{"rendered":"How do private equity professionals originate and close more deals?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I\u2019m a 20 year veteran of the private equity industry.\u00a0 I know what works to generate deal flow.\u00a0 I will always share how the best private equity professionals originate more deal flow.\u00a0 That’s my focus and passion.<\/p>\n

I review at least 1,000 private investment opportunities per year.\u00a0 I balance deal turn downs with deploying capital.\u00a0 My days are filled with meeting new prospects, taking care of existing clients, and pushing deals through our pipeline.<\/p>\n

So how do I do it?\u00a0 First, private equity<\/a> professionals need to be very cognizant of their \u201chighest and best use<\/a>\u201d of time management when sourcing and executing. As many veterans of PE BD know, the worst use of time is getting bogged down with a laundry list of administrative tasks versus being out trying to find new investment opportunities.<\/p>\n

How do you reduce the time you spend on admin tasks and focus more on bringing in more deals for your execution team to review?<\/p>\n

Know Your Flaws<\/h3>\n

Do you get distracted with your inbox or your social media feed? Are you constantly switching between your project management tools, your CRM tools, and your email accounts? If so, you\u2019re killing a lot of time<\/a>.\u00a0 My number one recommendation to BD people is to turn off your email alerts.\u00a0 They are complete distractions.\u00a0 Stay focused on the task at hand.\u00a0 Check email 3 times per day.\u00a0 First thing in the morning.\u00a0 Midday.\u00a0 And lastly, at night.<\/p>\n

Little tasks that aren\u2019t compartmentalized are sneaky time wasters. In isolation, none of them seem to take up too much time, but they do. But when compounded, it\u2019s difficult to recover from the loss of productivity.<\/p>\n

A report by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)<\/a>, says small business owners are spending more than 33 hours a month handling internal admin tasks. 55% say this is causing a lag in business growth. As you might expect, accounting tops the list of major time wasters with up to 14 of the 33 hours. Business banking takes 9 hours, taxes 6 hours, and HR and employee care take 5 hours.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how I maximize my efficiency:<\/p>\n

Schedule Your Entire Life on Your Calendar<\/h3>\n

I worked in a sales role earlier in my career. \u00a0One of my bosses used to harp on planning. The mantra was \u201cPlan your Day; and Execute Your Plan.\u201d\u00a0 Trust me.\u00a0 This is the best sales advice I\u2019ve ever learned.<\/p>\n

Move your to-do list to your calendar.\u00a0 That\u2019s how you get things done.<\/p>\n

Do you still use spreadsheets (or worse yet, a pen and paper) to schedule? In case the schedule changes or someone gets sick, you always have to adjust it manually.<\/p>\n

This is a huge amount of work\u2013\u2013and it\u2019s unnecessary. It doesn\u2019t have to be like that.\u00a0 Use the great technology of MS Outlook and learn how to automate and create shortcuts.\u00a0 Learn the shortcuts available in MS Outlook.\u00a0 They will make your life easier.<\/p>\n

Today anyone can create a robust scheduling solution that ensures you and your staff are working on projects they enjoy instead of wasting time on admin tasks. One way to achieve this is through an enterprise scheduling app<\/a>. Look for an app that suits your business in terms of size and needs.<\/p>\n

Get More Admin Support<\/h3>\n

You may be wondering if the amount of work you have justifies hiring additional staff. However, hiring more admin support could be a great decision. An assistant can help improve the efficiency of your whole business by taking care of the menial tasks that are consuming everybody\u2019s time.\u00a0 And check out virtual assistants.\u00a0 Many of the productivity gurus like David Allen<\/a> and Tim Ferriss<\/a> preach that virtual assistants have changed their lives for the better.\u00a0 Moving your tasks to your calendar in order to get things done is invaluable.\u00a0 Trust me.\u00a0 Do it.\u00a0 You will instantly see an improvement in your effectiveness.<\/p>\n

How do you know you need more admin help?<\/p>\n