Small businesses, such as those with just 2 employees (an owner and 1 employee) or even individuals/freelancers have a dilemma on their hands, which is the issue of how to handle all of duties that owning a business requires while still focusing on delivering their main product or service.
Business owners have to wear so many hats that knowing what to do, how to do it, and then actually DOING it can cause a serious amount of frustration! The key is to focus on the core business and ensure that all other activities that are not part of the core business are either handled quickly and efficiently or simply outsourced. Having a solid set of rules to follow that focus on maximizing profit and minimizing time expenditure is one of the keys to success in this small business realm.
Considering this school of thought, below are 5 ways to help small businesses owners do less work, but make more profit:
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- Plan your day-Daily planning is VITAL. Prioritize tasks and cross each off as you go. Stick to your plan as best you can and you will not only feel a greater sense of daily achievement, you will likely accomplish more as a result. Nothing feels better than crossing off a daily task as DONE.
- Learn to say NO-Saying NO can be a powerful thing indeed, especially if, as a small business owner, saying YES too often is costing you valuable time and money. For instance, clients that want to just chat, or “pick your brain” (which basically means free consulting) or even those who want to hire you but only pay a minimum rate while they try to maximize your time will NOT be a positive for your business. Learn to value your time and work to spend it only on the things that make your business more efficient and more profitable. If something comes your way that does not fit that criteria then, just say NO.
- Consider accounting software-These days, in-house accounting software for a small business is often the way to go. It can be much less expensive and even less work to simply upload the information needed to allow the software to help manage this all-important business task versus hiring an accounting firm to do the work.
- Decide if handling your own social media management is the right decision-Many individual entrepreneurs and small businesses decide to manage their own social media business profiles themselves. If someone has the knowledge to do this effectively AND manages their time properly (I.e. this task should take maybe 20-30 minutes per day) then it may be a wise idea. Unfortunately, too many businesses have zero understanding of how to handle this task to best represent their business and/or get sucked into the online world of visiting friends’ profiles and chatting with others or surfing the net. If this is the case, then by all means, hiring an outsourced individual or company to handle this may be the wise choice.
- DON’T slash the ad/marketing budget! -When profits plummet (for whatever reason) many small business owners look to their advertising & marketing budget as a way to cut costs. This is almost always a mistake because no matter what your monthly expenditure is, if that marketing is WORKING, then marketing & advertising can be an asset, not a liability. Take some time to ensure your marketing is effective and delivering for your ad spend instead of cutting it altogether. Think things were bad last month? Try cutting the only thing that that has the ability to bring in new clients and then you may realize the mistake too late to do anything about it.
While the above don’t represent the myriad ways that small businesses can save money and time, they do represent some of the most easily implemented and effective ways to make it happen. Look at each tip as a separate TASK on your weekly TO DO List and implement them as you can to strengthen the profitability and efficiency of your small business.
