I am a small business owner. I also get paid by the hour. So, this month past, I did a little experiment. How much time did I WASTE??
I made a note of all the time I spent on Social media (including Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc, etc, etc!), time spent on meetings (non chargeable and social) and time spent validly working on my business and time spent on my various "pastimes"
The result...Drum Roll Please...18 HOURS! (and a bit!)
That is a ticket to somewhere nice and warm as it is freezing here right now! That is a staggering amount of time and money. While some of it is valid...most of it is not! I have to admit this in order to move forward.
So this made me look into the business world and look at ways in which we do waste time in the business and of course, how we are change it.
For me one the of the things I seriously need to look at is Outsourcing the Social Media side. (And stop stalking my friends on Social Media!!) Outsourcing has got to be the best thing a small business can do. It will certainly free you up to earn some money in those hours. Get the professionals to do what they are good at and you do what you are good at!
Another thing on my agenda is to automate some of my processes. I have done this for my clients on many occasions but it is time to take my own advice I think. I automated their payment systems, booking systems, rules for dealing with emails, got rid of paper-based working and even lengthy spreadsheets. It is time to action a few of these at headquarters. Do you have many tasks that are repetitive? How about tasks that are mundane and take up valuable time? Have a look at ways to automate these tasks and moving to more efficient and updated systems. Here are a few things that could be automated.
I meet many people in my line of work. Next thing which was highlighted my by time tracking was perhaps a meeting should have a purpose and not end up as a social gathering. So I am going to go to my next meeting with a set Agenda, stick to it and the times then leave. Being a virtual assistant perhaps more virtual meetings are called for. Have you tried virtual meetings? This is a great way to save money on the travel expenses (and the cheeky coffee and cake!), you are more productive as it is harder to be sidetracked on the phone, there are no worries about meeting space availability and you are more likely to get attendance at a virtual meeting from a busy client than a face to face meeting. There are many platforms which support this with video calls or telephone calls. Make your next meeting a Virtual one!