Tips for Managing Your Small Business During Busy Times

Effective management is critical when it comes to managing your small business. As a business owner, you are responsible for every aspect that keeps your business running.

So, how can you manage your small business effectively when you are busy? How can you do it consistently? This article will answer these questions. Read on!

Organize

A cluttered space dampens your efficiency. So, make sure you keep your workplace or desk organized. Doing this can result in a clearer mindset and better focus on what your business needs.

Here are ways you can organize:

• Color-code your files/folders
• Keep your desk free of unnecessary items
• Use drawers to keep important files
• Create a personal task calendar
• Use apps like Trello or Evernote to organize your tasks

Set a Schedule and Follow It

Try not to develop the habit of improvisation. Although a talent in improvisation is useful, it is better to set a schedule and follow it.

Organize your schedule by setting times and days for specific purposes. For instance, set Mondays for weekly conferences to keep up with business development. Set Tuesdays for sales calls. Use the mornings to read and answer emails, etc. Include time to rest.

If you want, you can use the Pomodoro method, which breaks work into intervals.

Setting and following a schedule keeps you on track, resulting in higher efficiency and smoother business flow.

Automate Where You Can

Technology offers countless opportunities to streamline and make management easier for your business, even during busy times.

Not every task is essential to your business. Yet somebody needs to do these tasks. Save time using apps, programs, and online services to automate these tasks and have more time on critical business processes.

Seek Help/Delegate

For tasks that cannot be automated, you may want to seek help from others or delegate. Hire people, services, or outsourcing agents you can trust.

For instance, small business answering service providers are helpful when you deal with international clients.

Or if there is a job that is essential to your business, but you don’t know how to do it, find a person who can do it for you.

Do not be afraid to delegate. Find the right people or services and focus on what matters.

Do not Multitask

It is tempting to multitask when you see tasks piling up. You might feel you are doing more when you cram too much work in a short amount of time.

However, the truth is you will not finish any task as efficiently as you like since your attention is divided. Multitasking can even damage your brain and career.

Instead of multitasking, focus on one task at a time. Being 100% efficient on one task is 100% more helpful to your business than 25% efficient on four different tasks.

Identify Time Wasters

Whether you are aware of it or not, you do some things that waste your time. They may be activities you do during short breaks that extend into long hours, and you may not even be aware of them.

Find these time wasters and get rid of them. For example, if you often find yourself deep in the rabbit hole of social media, use a URL blocker.

Getting rid of time wasters not only lets you have more time on more important things, but you will also feel more productive, which is a rewarding feeling.

Do the Biggest Tasks First

If your workday as a business owner consists of routine tasks of different importance and sizes, do the biggest, hardest tasks first. When we delay them for later in the day, we often find reasons (or excuses) to delay them even further, leading to lower efficiency.

If it is a series of meetings that need to be scheduled, make sure to start with the biggest clients first. That way, your most important client has undivided attention. The same goes for tasks like answering emails, calls, writing reports, etc.