You have the business in motion and it is profitable one. In fact, you are so inundated with the daily grind that you can’t seem to keep things in order enough to maintain the productivity that you know is keeping the revenue stream strong. There are obvious time constraints and business roadblocks that cause an entrepreneur to lose their grasp of these efficiencies, and the business ultimately pays the price for it. But here we are in the year 2015, and the small business can’t afford even a millisecond of missed opportunity if they want to stay afloat, grow the business, increase revenues, etc. Here are 10 tips on how to best manage your workday.
Utilize your scheduling capabilities
You have your smart phone and Gmail calendar, now it’s about using them to maintain your productivity. There’s no reason why you can’t effectively schedule your work hours accordingly, by the hour, half hour, by the minute. The bottom line is what used to take a secretary or administrative assistant is now covered by the phone in your pocket. It’s with you wherever you go so use it.
Document everything
Whether you are writing your meeting minutes in a spiral bound notebook or jotting them down in your iPad it is important to document everything that matters in your daily work. Combining those notes into an outline provides clear and concise reference points for you to reflect on during future meetings and decision making scenarios.
Be prepared for the unexpected
It’s kind of an oxymoron isn’t it? But in the business world we know that you have to be prepared for things you couldn’t have prepared for in your planning. Many businesses leave room in the budget just for that. But if you utilized your schedule and document your business appropriately you should be able to handle the crazy things that pop up. Finance regulation and interest rates changes can affect your business overnight, what is your contingency?
Prioritize
Learn how to do put things in order of importance. Create a WIP list for all your work in progress scenarios and determine which tasks have the most priority and tackle them. Organizing your material in such a manner will surely keep you focused on important issues.
The customer is the top priority
Don’t ever forget it. If you want to keep productivity in check and you aren’t focusing on your customer’s needs then you aren’t prioritizing appropriately. As we always say, the customer is always first. What would happen if you were in the business of alternative lending, providing short-term finance to your customers and ran out of money to lend? Believe it or not this is something that can happen if you don’t keep your eye on it.
Maintain a positive outlook
This can’t be stressed enough. So many bad scenarios get compounded because of a negative perspective on them. Keeping a positive outlook on your business helps you and your employee look past those temporary lags in efficiencies or revenues. Surround yourself with positive people.
You’re wasting time until you draw the line
Time is money. Time is a resource. Time matters. Don’t waste it in line for coffee or looking for answers to an impossible question. Streamline your work procedures and cut unnecessary meetings that can be handled in a simple email correspondence. A perfect example of this is using a traditional banking system to apply for a loan. These processes can take weeks before you receive the financing. Why would you do that when you can apply with ezbob and receive the financing transferred to your bank account within minutes? Work smarter, not harder.
Delegate tasks
Identify those tasks that take too much of your day and delegate any that don’t require you and only you to work them. It is critical to maintaining productivity levels. That’s because delegating opens up your schedule to handle more important tasks, and it also puts ownership into the hands of those you delegate to.
Failure is no excuse
Failing is not an excuse to quit. In fact, you need to take your failures, learn from them and come back swinging the next time. Dwelling on a failure or error is a cancer to the organization.
Maintain organization
Staying organized in your business environment is key. As I mentioned above regarding using your phone calendar to keep your day in check, the same method needs to be applied to all areas of the business. Keeping organized files, managing email accounts and keeping personnel info up to date are all very important and critical to remaining productive.
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