It’s no secret that time is a precious asset – especially in business. Creating and, more importantly, maintaining enough time to manage all the competing responsibilities is vital to ensure long-term growth and success.
If you’re a business owner trying to do everything, you are most likely wasting precious hours that you should be spending to plan for business growth. The quickest way to derail your business momentum is being distracted by daily operational tasks and life’s general demands.
To avoid becoming just another failed business statistic, you need to make sure you create the time and space to focus on your long-term goals and objectives.
Here are NumbleTM Bookkeeping’s six simple ways to create extra time to grow your business:
1. Outsource
Outsourcing is an excellent way to free up time to focus on your business plan for growth.
It’s an excellent delegation method for complicated and repetitive tasks or specialised jobs that arise from time to time.
Instead of building an internal accounting department, you can outsource your accounting system, payroll and bookkeeping services to qualified industry experts much more cost-effectively. Not only will this free up your time, but you can rest easy that your financials will be handled correctly and efficiently, maximising your profits as well as remaining legally compliant.
Outsourcing offers a high degree of flexibility which is precisely what business owners need. It can be perfectly tailored and varied to meet your changing needs. Whether you’re at the crawl, walk or run stage of a business life cycle, you can free up valuable time for crucial activities like competitor research and forward planning.
2. Create thoughtful, realistic to-do lists
While having daily actionable goals is essential, many business owners go overboard with creating to-do lists without considering the unpredictable realities of everyday life.
Continually falling short in completing your daily tasks can create a false sense of hopelessness and have you second-guessing whether you have the time to do all that is needed to grow a successful business.
Ensure your list-making approach is realistic by creating to-do lists based on important tasks and limiting them to between three and five jobs a day. At the end of each day, create your list before leaving your desk to confirm the tasks you are confident you can complete.
Each morning, tackle the most challenging item first, as you are at your most productive. Completing the most difficult task first creates a dynamic flow-on effect for the remaining tasks and challenges of the day.
When it comes to bookkeeping and accounting, checklists can be a vital resource for you and your business. Check out some of Numble’sTM readymade checklists:
3. Establish your business financials
A large portion of your time will be spent overseeing the operations of your business to determine the cost-effectiveness of all your processes. You need to monitor budgets, profit margins and cash flow closely. Keeping a close watch on your financial progress can not only be time-consuming but mentally taxing.
To free up your time, you need to streamline these processes and create easy to update management reports, budgets and KPIs. Make them easy to access and review. Investing time in developing these reports will ensure your business is always travelling in the right direction. Numble’sTM “Walk” bookkeeping service can help you do this.
Management reports, budgets and KPIs are essential elements of every business. They help minimise the guesswork. Knowing and understanding your business metrics creates efficient operations and limits the risk of over-spending and financial threats.
Forecasting will help you generate projections for future sales, customer demand, and traffic and warn of cash flow and seasonal fluctuations. Use your time efficiently and productively to improve your business performance for maximum success.
4. Do one thing every day for your business
No matter what day it is, do at least just one thing for your business. While rest and relaxation are very important, undertaking a small task that keeps your brain engaged with your business momentum is vital for long-term success.
Whenever possible, spread out your working hours with regular breaks. This will help you accomplish your everyday tasks while avoiding burnout and anxiety from trying to fit too much into one day.
5. Turn off all distractions
One of the best ways to maximise your time is to disengage from your phone, emails, messaging apps and social media while you work. Every time you are distracted by an email, a text or a notification ping, you’ll waste valuable time trying to refocus and complete your designated task.
Instead of allowing your brain to get distracted and switch between contexts, aim to disconnect completely, especially while working on creative or complicated tasks. Removing distractions will help your focus to remain sharp and your time to be used wisely. To achieve a high-quality output, concentrate 100% of your attention on one key task at a time.
6. Regular routines
When your days are full of good habits and routines, you won’t need to waste time making small and insignificant decisions.
By reducing unnecessary choice distractions from your day, you gain extra time to focus on the critical matters within your business. You can do this by creating a lifestyle guided by set routines and good habits that feel comfortable for you.
Eliminating decision fatigue will free up your time for the things that matter and help you keep a laser focus on the successful growth and expansion of your venture.
Finding extra time to grow your business isn’t always easy, but by implementing these six simple steps, you can create a wealth of spare time to take your business to the next level and secure your chances of long-term growth and success.
If you are finding it increasingly difficult to manage the competing interests of your business, and are looking for bookkeeping support and financial guidance, give us a call on 1300 852 575, or complete our obligation free consultation form. We are Wise with Numbers.