Time Management: Growing Your Business

It’s amazing how so many new entrepreneurs are popping up all over the place, and new entrepreneurs means more competition. It’s one of the reasons why you have to keep growing and innovating your business.

Opportunities abound everywhere, and you’re probably one of those people who grabbed one or more and plunged right into the swarming sea of modern business owners.

But here’s the catch— you soon figure out you don’t have enough time to build or develop the business you’ve started. Or do you?

Perhaps it’s all a matter of time management and leveraging on people and technology.

If you believe in your vision and you really want to make your business work, then it’s time to take charge and follow these 6 simple yet effective tips:

Tip #1: Prioritize and Plan.

You must know your top priorities, so that they don’t end up getting buried under the urgent but not really that important tasks.

If you have other things you need to attend to in your life, such as a day job and your family duties, it’s essential to plan ahead based on your priorities and goals. Your to-do lists should be aligned with your weekly, monthly, and long-term goals.

To avoid getting overwhelmed, you ought to set aside 1 to 2 hours a day only for your business. Or you could make it 4 to 8 hours on weekends. It depends on you and what you feel would make you more productive. Whatever you decide, you should incorporate this into your planner or daily routine and make sure to strictly follow the schedule.

Apart from the schedule itself, you must plan your tasks too so you don’t waste time opening and answering emails. Have a checklist to guide you on what you need to finish.

For example, are you prioritizing social media marketing? Then set small tasks that will help strengthen your presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Or do you want to focus on building your email list this month? Be sure to design and implement your campaigns for this during the hours you allotted for your business.

As much as possible, do not stray from your priorities if there is no pressing matter to put above them.

Tip #2: Drop and Drain.

Time can certainly fly off the window when you get preoccupied with mundane stuff and things that deter your focus.

Don’t worry. You’re not alone.

A lot of people get caught up reading and responding to emails, going through their social media newsfeeds, and doing other things that are not so relevant to their businesses.

Drop it all.

Starting today, track how you spend your time. You’ll probably be surprised at how much time you actually waste each day when you could be doing something more useful or important.

In monitoring your daily activities and how much time you spend on each, you’ll be able to determine which ones to drop from your schedule and replace with relevant activities that will help grow your business.

And while you’re at it, how about draining yourself of all negative emotions too? Perhaps you’re worried about some things and these thoughts and nagging feelings are taking a lot of your time. Maybe you have toxic people in your life that you could actually avoid or spend less time with.

These negativities will only distract you. They will make you lose your focus and motivation, so be wary of them.

Tip #3: Look and Leverage.

Leverage has never been as doable as today. In this digital age, it’s so easy to connect with people from different parts of the world.

Outsourcing and freelancing are continuously growing.

It’s time for you to look for and outsource qualified freelancers to do the parts of your business that are most time-consuming and to also do those that are not your expertise. This way, you’ll leverage not just on these people’s time and effort but also on their strengths, talents, experiences, and abilities.

Let’s say you want to start a YouTube channel and use video marketing to promote your products and services. You could hire a freelancer to do the scripts and videos, and another one to manage your YouTube channel. This is especially recommended if the skills involved are not your cup of tea. Then you can actually spend more time doing what you’re good at and what you enjoy the most in your business.

Check out sites like Upwork and Fiverr, and you’ll find a lot of good freelancers who can do some of your tasks for very cheap rates.

Tip #4: Move and Manage.

It’s important to be able to manage and work on your business to while you’re on the move. This is possible if you have the necessary apps installed in your mobile phone or tablet.

These days, most people are usually on the go. So whether you’re lining up at the grocery or stuck in traffic, you can actually monitor your business and do some tasks— answer inquiries on your FB page, post tweets relevant to your business, chat with a client on Skype, check your online inventory, and more.

Tip #5: Automate and Achieve More.

Business experts would always say that in order for you to grow and expand your business, you have to automate it. This means you need to have a good system in place.

There are many ways on how you can automate your business and set up the system to work even when you’re not around or even when you’re sleeping.

For instance, you can make use of an email autoresponder where you schedule your messages and newsletters to be delivered to your subscribers, readers, and/or customers. You can also utilize a social media scheduling tool such as Hootsuite. This way, you can create your posts during the hours allotted for your business but have them posted on your desired days and time.

Another way to automate is by training a team to do the day-to-day operations. If you have a startup or just a small business, this is still very doable. For instance, you may have an online marketer, copywriter, graphic designer, and virtual assistant all working together for your web marketing campaigns. You just provide the direction and vision, and they report their plans to you for approval. Once approved, they implement everything and all you have to do is supervise.

Tip #6: Collaborate and Create.

These days, it’s easy to collaborate with other business owners who may not be your direct competitors but have the same target market as yours. Partnering with them can also help you leverage on time.

There are several benefits to such collaborations, such as reaching out to more potential customers and taking some concerns and tasks off your back.

Let’s say you decide to work with an author who already has a book he wants to promote. You have a popular blog with readers he wants to reach out to. So instead of coming up with your own giveaway for loyal readers or for new email list subscribers, you can offer this book instead.

Or what if you get a video production business to create your promotional video for free? You not only save money, but you save time and effort too. In addition, you’re likely to have a more professional outcome that would make your business seem more attractive.

Definitely create different ways to collaborate with others. You may also want to tie up with organizations and institutions.

Only a Matter of Time

Take a few of these tips and start applying them ASAP. You’ll see the difference soon enough and be able to accomplish more for your business.

Yes, it’s only a matter of time. But time is a precious asset that you can never earn back, so use it wisely to boost your business to greater heights.

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