As a small business owner, one of the biggest challenges you have is juggling all the things going on around you and still accomplishing what needs to be done.
A frequent comment I hear from business owners is “I can’t afford to keep spending time on all this number crunching…I’ve got a business to run.”
It’s frustrating for them because knowing those numbers is critical to their success and yet being pulled in other directions at the same time is also a constant problem.
So what’s the solution?…
Often, what really holds business owners back can be narrowed down to a few key things: procrastination, productivity drain holes and lack of automation.
It is possible to boost your own productivity and the productivity of your business to levels you didn’t think possible…so that you can get more done in less time.
Today, in order to help you start tackling these key things I’ve put together three tips on how to advance your business and avoid feeling like your day has slipped away without accomplishing much.
MAKE PRODUCTIVITY YOUR TOP AMBITION
If you are going to achieve a boost in your productivity, it has to be on the forefront of your mind at all times and become part of your inner culture. A good practice I have found is to ask myself two questions.
- What is the most important thing I can do right now?
- What would I work on if I only had 2 hours to work today?
IDENTIFY AND PLUG YOUR PRODUCTIVITY DRAIN HOLES
Distractions, habits, and lack of knowledge suck productivity from you. Identifying which drain holes you are victim to is the first step to becoming more productive. Here are a few common drain holes and ways to plug them:
- Use hard stops: I had a meeting the other day with a key member of my team. Before we even started the meeting he announced that he had a hard stop at 3pm. That quickly defined the duration of the meeting. And guess what? We were done at 3. It’s called a deadline. Deadlines force discipline. That’s why deadlines work. Use them.
- Don’t do more; do less: It’s called prioritization. A good rule to have in mind when you’re prioritizing your tasks is the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule means that 20 percent of the things you do during your day will produce 80 percent of your results. When you start looking at the things you do through an 80/20 lens it can be quite shocking how well it applies to everything you do and it makes you question why you spend time on tasks that really don’t make a difference to your business.
- Mute your devices: When you’re supposed to be working and getting things done, close your email application and mute your phone. Ignore that tug to respond right away to every request. If you really want to do it right, set aside a small chunk of time at the same time every day to email. Also, never answer a call unless you’re expecting it or have time for it.
AUTOMATE WHENEVER YOU CAN
Automating allows you to literally “be in two or more places at one time.” Touch screen or tablet point of sale systems are good examples of automation. They enable you to observe everything that’s going in your business at any time.
- From a restaurant vantage point you can see what orders have gone back and at what times, how late things are and what deliveries are out.
- From the retail perspective you can see what items have sold during a select period of time and at what profit each item was sold.
- A point of sale system automates many parts of your business by giving you kind of a bird’s eye view of your entire operation right at your fingertips.
Make productivity your top priority. When you become laser-focused on productivity and make it your top priority, you’ll soon find more ways to replace manual labor with automated systems. You’ll eliminate many things that consume your time and you’ll produce more, make more money and experience a lot less stress and struggle.
“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”
- Leonardo Da Vinci
Ask yourself this: What is one small step I can take today to move forward towards my goal of increasing my own personal productivity and the productivity of my business?
If you’re not sure feel free to call our office at 1-888-999-1343. Ask for me, and let’s see what a good step for you might be.
Seize the day!
Chris