It’s easy to become overwhelmed as a business owner. In fact, it’s so easy to become overwhelmed and paralyzed that overwhelm is a major reason most small businesses fail.
(Yes. . .most small businesses fail – not some, not a percentage. . .most!)
As small business owners, we wear lots of hats:
- Owner/Visionary
- Service provider
- Content creator
- Marketer
- Administrator
- Financial gatekeeper
- . . .and many more.
With each of these roles comes more responsibility, more things to do.
Chances are you’re currently thinking about all these roles and responsibilities and asking yourself if it’s worth it. Personally, I say “ABSOLUTELY!” – I wouldn’t trade the freedom and lifestyle my business provides for anything.
Assuming that you want the same freedom without working 24/7, here are a few of the things I did/do which have made all the difference:
- Integrate all my services, vendors, software so that I’m using as few as possible. For example, I use www.KickstartCartSolution.com for my shopping cart, client connections, nurturing sequences, ezine distribution, affiliate management and more. By integrating all of these needs in this one software, I saved over $250/month.
- Combine like roles for greater efficiency. For example, my client calls are grouped by day; my writing activities are grouped by day and my administrative work is grouped together. I also call this “time blocking” or “task chunking”.
- Repurpose everything I do. Ezine articles show up on my blog a month later infusing more life into them and then they’re tweeted and posted on Facebook for even more exposure. After that, they’re broken down into #SmarTini tips. Depending on topic, they may become teleseminars, programs, white papers or e-courses.
- Acknowledge what I’m not good at (or what isn’t the best use of my time) and delegate it. In the beginning, this may be 1-2 hours a month and then more as your revenue increases. The most important part here is to ensure you’re using the “newly found” time to do something only you can do in your business and/or brings you closer to revenue.
Essentially, it’s about incorporating efficiencies throughout everything you do.
My Request to You:
Spend some time thinking about your average week, make a list of all your service providers (look at your checking account/credit card statements to be sure you get them all) and ask yourself:
- Where can I combine, integrate and maximize services?
- How can I best take advantage of what I have?
- Where can I time chunk to maximize “getting in the flow”?
Take your time with the answers – chances are you’ll find both time and m.o.n.e.y.