All Successful Businesses Have Systems

Business, Small Business.

5 sure - fire strategies to have more time - who else wants to get more done, with less stress, in less time? Managing how you spend your time on a day - to - day basis and also increasing the amount of productive time you have, are the keys your productivity, health and quality of life. As a solo entrepreneur it often seems like everything and everyone demands your attention all at once.

Time Management Strategy# 1. - time management problems are often caused by overwhelm. The best place to start managing time better is with yourself! Often what happens is that an entrepreneur will start a task, put it on, get overwhelmed the back burner and then either start it again at a later time or ignore the task until a deadline is missed or a crisis emerges. Each time you go back to an unfinished task, you need to take extra time to re - familiarize yourself with it and figure out where you left off. A lot of precious time is wasted this way.

If you miss a deadline or a crisis emerges this means you will have to play" catch up" and work more hours. - also, set deadlines for completing each piece. A strategy to overcome overwhelm is to break up the task into smaller pieces and tackle them one by one. Block out time in your calendar and stick to your schedule. Time Management Strategy# 2. If you don' t have the expertise for the project or you hate doing it why not give the job to someone who has the know - how and actually loves doing it?

Work in an organized work environment. - how much time have you wasted looking for paperwork? Is your office cluttered and disorganized? The Wall Street Journal reported in a survey they had done that the average white collar worker spends 6 weeks a year looking for paperwork! They need papers to remind them to do things or as a way of organizing projects. Most people have paper clutter because they don' t have a systematic way of handling their paper flow.

To manage your time effectively you need to create a filing system where you can quickly and easily file and access information when you need it. - plan and structure your work week in your calendar. Time Management Strategy# 3. A system that has worked well for me is scheduling Rest Days, Income - Generating Days and Business Development Days. On these days you are free to do anything except work related tasks. You set aside time for yourself first by scheduling Rest Days. This is the time you need to rejuvenate your mind, body and spirit.

Focus on your the operations of your business - marketing, administration, finances, personnel, sales etc. - next, schedule your business development days where you will work on your business. Whatever days you have left of the week are Income - Generating Days or" billable time" , working IN your business. Set as many( or as few of these days) as you like each week, as long as the total adds up to 7 for a full week. Note that without Business Development days you won' t have any Income - Generating Days! Within each day, I schedule some time for unexpected things that come up that are urgent and demand my immediate attention. Time Management Strategy# 4.

Life does happen so by planning ahead to accommodate this, I' m usually ok and able to stay on track. - focus only on what you do best. Track and examine how you spend your time in a typical week. Apply Pareto' s 80/ 20 rule which states that that 20 percent of your activities produce 80 percent of your results. What do you enjoy doing? What do you dislike doing?

What do you do well? - what things aren' t you doing well? Eliminate or delegate everything else. You will discover that the things you enjoy doing are your unique strengths and that add the greatest value to your business. The# 1 reason for business failure which accounts for 61% of failures, according to Dun& Bradstreet, is Managerial Incompetence defined as" the skillful use of resources to accomplish a purpose" . You have the power to double your productivity and eliminate time wasters but are you using it? Harness the real power of leverage when you tap into other people' s time and skills.

Time Management Strategy# 5. - michael gerber, author of the" e - myth" tells us to make our companies" system dependent, not people dependent" . Systemize and automate routine and repetitive tasks to save time. What this means is that systems run the business and people run the systems. Edwards Deming, a statistician who revolutionized American business practices, tells us that 97% of all failure is due to the SYSTEM and not the person. Dr. All successful businesses have systems.

Common activities include invoicing, managing emails, client intake, scheduling, marketing and sales, managing paperwork activities. - to systemize the first step is to figure out the activities that are routine to your business. Also, examine ways in which you can use technology to automate your systems. Not only will your daily productivity increase but also the quality of your life - I think that' s why many solo entrepreneurs went into business in the first place! By using these strategies I guarantee that you will recapture hours of wasted time and redirect your time to more productive use.