Some of you may or may not know that I have been running a business with my husband for the past 30 years and my bookkeeping business for the last 20 years. During this time, I have also raised 2 children and dealt with health issues.
I have put together a list of things that I have learnt over the years especially in the last 5 years on how to work ON your business and not IN your business. So here we go.
1. Just because you can do everything doesn’t mean you should – Wise words from Natalie Eckdahl (The BizChix Podcast)
With everyone dealing with staff shortages, what other tasks do you do that can be outsourced in your business or home? Do you need to hire a marketing person to keep your socials up to date, get someone to do your ironing, clean the house or mow the lawn?
2. Keep a time audit. This is where you spend a week writing down what you do every 30 minutes and at the end of the week you can see where you are spending your time. Maybe you are on social media, reading and answering emails more than you think! Are there some tasks that you are doing that you can train your team to do for you instead. If you want a copy of the time audit template I used then let me know.
3. Systemize!!! Are you doing the same tasks over and over again? Can you automate this task? Again, with a written process on how to do the task, can you get a staff member to follow your system and do this for you?
4. Use a diary or calendar (e.g. Google) Put everything you need to do in a diary or calendar on your phone and free up your mind from remembering what you need to do and when.
5. Set up a default diary. I use Google Calendar and added in what we call a default diary. It is a calendar of your week, with blocks of time preassigned to particular tasks that you need to do. E.g., times set aside for quoting jobs, meeting with clients etc.
6. Do you have or need a workflow system? Are you constantly checking where your work/jobs are at, who is doing it and is the job on track by the completion date? There are free or low-cost options out there e.g., Trello, Asana.
7. Working on your Business: set aside a few hours each week at the same time to do the things to move your business forward. Guard this time! Work somewhere with no interruptions if you need to. This is the time to prioritize your tasks: Set your priorities and focus on tasks that only you can do e.g., business planning, financial reviews, goal setting or other tasks that will improve business.
8. Join Facebook groups that are aligned with your business and your goals, they may be business based and/or industry based. Podcasts are also great source of information/ideas as well.
9. Set boundaries: Make a conscious effort to limit interruptions, such as emails, phone calls and meetings, so you can focus.
Remember, not all days will go to plan and quite frankly some days will be a write off, so it is ok if it doesn’t go to plan. Tomorrow is another day!
If you want help to build your business, do a business plan, set business goals then book a session now.