If you manage a small business, you may feel like there isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done. The biggest downfall for many entrepreneurs is that they are wasting time on low-value activities and confusing busyness with productivity. Ask yourself these 3 questions to determine whether you are maximising or wasting your time.
1. What is the best use of my time?
Identify 2-3 activities that make a significant difference in how much money your business earns and focus on these tasks. These could be activities such as building relationships with current clients, contacting potential customers, creating ads to promote your products/services or developing new products. Make sure you schedule time to work on what really matters and increases revenue rather than being consumed by seemingly urgent tasks.
2. What are my time traps?
It is easy to lose concentration and become interrupted by low value tasks. What are some time-wasting activities that take up a large portion of your day or people who take up valuable hours of your time? These small tasks can accumulate and slow down you and your business, leaving you less time to focus on valuable activities.
3. How am I going to fix this?
Start taking your business to the next level by deciding how to tackle the changes you are going to make to your schedule. Restructure your week so you are spending more time on income-increasing activities and don’t be afraid to delegate tasks to your employees.
Remember, any setbacks and mistakes you make should be used as an opportunity to learn and implement a positive change towards managing your time efficiently and productively running your business. There is no better time spent that working out what is the best use of your time.
Here at the Quinn Group, our business accountants and lawyers can provide advice on a range of business matters. If you need help putting together a business plan, don’t hesitate to contact us on 02 9223 9166 or submit an online enquiry.
