5 ways to streamline your small business

As a small business owner you are the marketing, accounting and sales departments all rolled into one – and then there’s the kids to pick up. You’re busier than any CEO out there, yet didn’t you become your own boss to have more free time? Where are your days spent on the golf course? Why can’t you ever finish a series on Netflix?

Well, one of the reasons might be that you’re missing small changes you can make to your running operations that will have a huge impact on the time it takes to manage your business. 

Here are 5 ways to free up time.

Do your accounting online

One of the greatest inventions of the internet for small business owners are apps and software that allow you to streamline the invoicing and quotation process by doing many of the mindless tasks for you. Software like quickbooks or Wave help you to track sales, expenses and profits; create budgets and more. And it’s as simple as clicking on ‘download’.

Make shorter to-do lists

Few things look as daunting as a long and growing to-do list on a whiteboard. Cut down and prioritise. Distinguish between big dream ideas and achievable goals. You’ll find more peace of mind crossing out (or better yet, erasing) a to-do item than you would making sure you’ve written down everything there is to do. 

Become an early bird

One of the best-selling titles at Exclusive Books currently is a book called The 5AM Club by a world-renowned life coach. Buy it, read it, and try to get up at – if not 5AM – at least a little earlier. Eraly I the morning phone don’t rings and cars don’t move. It’s the ideal time to catch up on work without distractions.

Put your phone on silent

Speaking of distractions, another great invention is the silent feature on most cell phones. No business call is an emergency and there are times in the day when you’re allowed to be out of reach. The silent feature also mutes social media notifications. True bliss.

Don’t overstretch yourself

As a small business owner, you have a lot of drive and normally take the initiative. You may have built your business by going the extra mile, but know where your boundaries are. Saying no is a dark art, but well worth getting the hang of.

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