7 time management tips for small business owners to increase productivity and profit

As a small business owner, you have a lot of responsibilities.  The gap between day and night blur so fast and you wonder if you will ever accomplish your goals.

While a large corporation may have hundreds of personnel to handle every aspect of the business, for a small business owner the scenario is different.

From production to marketing, accounting and so forth, everything lies on your shoulder.    You look for more efficient ways of operating, registering a domain name,  hosting your site and expanding your customer base through the internet.

So how do you handle the load of responsibilities when time is so limited?

The answer?  Better time management.  It is about optimising your time to achieve maximum results.

Below are a few tips that can help improve your time management.

Set goals and identify steps required to accomplish them

Identifying your business goals and steps to accomplish them is important.   Knowing what you want compels you to focus on what is relevant while ignoring the unimportant.  This can lead to better business decisions and improved time management.

Planning Ahead

After identifying the steps required to accomplish your goals, the next phase is taking action.   But taking action also involves working out how you spend your business hours.  What tasks you concentrate on or leave out.

For some entrepreneurs, this means creating a breakdown of tasks to be carried out.  This can be done manually or through online apps.

Some entrepreneurs prefer to create their to-do list a day ahead.  While others put it down first thing in the morning.

Whatever works for you is good enough.  The idea is to map out your time well and help accomplish as much as you can in a given period.

Avoid distraction

An interruption in the course of work can upturn the best of plans and to-do lists.  Distractions can emanate from co-workers or slip in through the internet.

Most people are out of control when it comes to the internet. They can’t help but check email every other ten minutes.  Some are glued to social media and constantly updating status or texting on their mobile.

Mundane as these sounds, they are time stealers.  Taking away bits and pieces that accumulate into meaningful chunks that could have been better utilised.

As a small business owner, you must have a strategy to dealing with this.  Mapping out periods for responding to or assisting personnel may be a proactive way of handling such distractions.

In the same vein having a set time to check or respond to email, can reduce the unwanted disruptions through that platform.

With the right internet solutions from web solution companies like Umbrellar you will navigate this terrain with ease.

Delegating or outsourcing tasks

Letting others help out can free up time for a small business owner.  But some entrepreneurs are wary of delegating or outsourcing tasks.

Their reluctance is rooted in the fear that the task may not be carried out.

While this can happen, the solution is to find good hands or train available personnel to do the job well.

If your time is truly valuable, you will concentrate on the major tasks and leave the minor ones for others.

But it is also important to say that with the development in e-commerce a lot is automated and there is much a knowledgeable entrepreneur can accomplish with the right web tools.

Focus on one thing at a time

Focusing on one activity at a time is important in time management.  It is central to achieving desired results.

While the idea of multi-tasking is popular, the truth is not everyone has the capacity carry on multiple things at the same and get excellent results from all.

It is better to identify one single task and give it your best shot, rather than doing five things at a time with poor results.

 Organise your workspace

Having a well-organised workspace can impact how well you work.   A cluttered, muddled space not only affects the mind but impinge the smooth flow of work.

Having the right business tools, plus an excellent online platform can keep your business up 24 hours a day.   Saving time and money in the process while enhancing productivity.

Maintain your health

In a bid to accomplish many small business owners work themselves to the bone.  They put in endless hours without rest, exercise or good nutrition.   With good health, you can serve your customers better.

Conclusion

Time management is essential for achieving business success.  But it begins with stating your objective and identifying the steps needed to achieve them.

This will help you prioritise and focus on what is important.  In the same vein having the right web tools will help manage your workflow and time a lot better.