Being a small business owner is one of the toughest tasks on the market these days. People who are starting their own business often don’t have enough staff and resources in the beginning, so they are the ones who have to play different roles and do various jobs in their company. As you can imagine, this is not a simple thing to do and it requires a lot of time. For these small companies, time literally means money. This means that every minute wasted in the office can cost a lot. If you are a business owner yourself, you know this to be true. Making the best of your time in the office is crucial for your success and that’s why, today, we are going to talk about 4 effective time management tips for small business owners.
Pick Your Battles
As we already said, running a startup or being a small business owner usually means that you have to do many different tasks on a daily basis. At first, this can be a good thing because you save a lot of money by not hiring additional staff, but as your business grows, so does your amount of work. Now, considering the fact that there are only 24 hours in the day and that you also have to eat, sleep, and have a life outside the office, you simply have to learn how to pick your battles.
For example, there will be tasks you are not trained for and completing them will take up too much of your valuable time. When this happens, you have to hire someone else to do it. Sure, it will cost you some money, but it will pay off in the long run. For instance, if you are running a bike repair shop in New Zealand, you probably don’t have time or skills to do your own accounting. This is a situation where you should outsource and hire someone else to do accounting for you. Luckily, there are a lot of good chartered accountants in NZ that can help you with your finances. Hiring someone to do these tasks for you will give you freedom and time to focus on things you’re good at. This strategy will save you a lot of time, which means you will be more productive in the office.
Learn How To Ignore Your Emails
We are aware that this might sound a bit counter-intuitive, especially for a small business owner who gets a lot of emails during the day, but let us explain. Checking your inbox every 10 minutes and responding to emails interrupts other, more important daily tasks. So, if you don’t want to waste your precious time like this, make sure to have two periods during the day when you can check your inbox and respond to emails.
Set Many Small Goals
If you want to be productive and have a good time management, you should know that setting small, short-term goals is crucial. Big goals can be intimidating and people usually don’t know how to start working on them. This is why you should break down your long-term goals into monthly, weekly, and daily goals. Finishing many smaller tasks on a daily basis will make you more productive and it will give you a sense of accomplishment.
Find Out When You Are Most Productive
Forcing yourself to work when you’re not feeling it is usually counterproductive. Most of the time you’re just sitting in front of your computer stressing about your low levels of productivity. This is a classic waste of time. Instead of doing this, you should find out when during the day you are most productive. Once you figure that out, you should work only during those periods. For example, if you are an early bird and if you are at your best when there’s no one in the office, come to work early and tackle your most important tasks then. Remember, working hard is crucial, but knowing when to work is also very important.
These tips will help you to manage your time better and be more productive in the office.