AUTHOR Leah Chevallier | Award winning entrepreneur | CEO multi-million dollar start-ups
Are you running your business or is it running you?
If you are flying by the seat of your pants, missing appointments, scrambling to fit in meetings with your accountant and putting out fires on a daily basis, chances are your business is running you. Isn't it time to grab control of those reigns and get things working on YOUR timeline, your terms, based on YOUR goals and vision?
Yes? Good, you are in the right spot. Here are my Top 5 Tips To Get On Track and start getting control of your business:
Ask yourself one simple question. Are you feeling in control? Or are details slipping through the cracks consistently?
1. WHAT DO YOU ACTUALLY DO?
Write out a list of ALL your tasks that you do on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. This means break it down by chunks of time. For example, for month end, you should be pulling your invoices together for the accountant, getting bank statements printed, pulling month end sales reports into PDFs and filing them. For daily tasks it could be printing website orders, returning customer calls, cold-calling accounts, returning emails etc.. Break it all down into clear itemized lists.
2. TRACK YOUR JOB TASKS
Start using a calendar, online or paper, or an agenda. You are going to time slot all your tasks for the week, based on your lists you created above. Only you are going to force yourself to stick to time slots. For example, 15 minutes to scan your emails, (using the click and respond rule, only click on emails you will absolutely commit to responding to or deleting in that moment, no peek and parking allowed). BY allocating specific time in the day for various jobs, you are making better use of your time and not allowing yourself to get distracted and off track.
3. FIND THE TIME SUCKERS
Determine your time wasters. This means if you hate paperwork and always procrastinate on doing it, that is your number one dragon to slay. So either commit to a calendar time slot once a week for it or outsource it. There is no shame in delegating tasks, it frees up your valuable time and more importantly gets the job done. Just commit.
4. DON'T UNDER ESTIMATE HIRING EARLY
Do not avoid hiring thinking you cannot actually afford it. This may sound counter intuitive but by hiring the right person for the right position can be a game-changer. Especially if it means you now have time to chase new accounts, customers and business. Or maybe you prefer to be behind the scenes and need to hire a tiger of a sales rep to hit the ground running. By having a clear list of tasks from item #1, you will start to see where you can best utilize your time and hiring budget. Not sure who or what to hire for? Hire a coach to help you iron out the framework and they will help you finetune your vision, honing in on what makes the most sense for your business.
5. KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS
Knowing what you are good at, what you procrastinate on and where your talents lie is key to getting better control of your business. Make sure that your business plan includes having a book-keeper, accountant and possibly lawyer either signed on or ready to jump when you do. By keeping these professionals up-to-date on your operations, means they are ready able to jump in when problems arise. They will also have valuable experience and tips for your business that you may not have thought of.
Book your FREE 15 minute coaching consult today to see where you need help and direction!