When it comes to running your own business, time is a commodity like no other. Learning how to properly manage your time can make all the difference to your business success. Almost 40% of small business owners perceive time as being their most valuable asset. They are not wrong! Approximately three-fourths of small business owners work increasingly longer days and more weekends managing their own business. Practicing the right methods in small business time management will help to increase your productivity and success.
The Value of Time
Making the choice to run your own small business does not go without sacrifice. Many small business owners contend with the fact of having less personal and family time. An estimated 40% of small business owners take less time off and vacations when compared to the average employee in the workforce.
A quarter of small business owners value their time as being worth more than $500 a hour. This means that every moment lost, is a costly expense to the company. Why is finding time such an issue though?
Many small business owners find it difficult to keep up with the demands of their daily business operations while trying to focus on growing profits. More than half of owners find themselves covering various job responsibilities with little time left over to get everything done. On average, more than 70% of small business owners are left fulfilling the roles and responsibility of 3-6 positions in a company.
To conquer this issue, focusing on the daunting tasks that drag down the effectiveness of small business time management will help to alleviate distractions and unimportant tasks.
Top 10 Time Killers for Small Businesses
The average small business typically find themselves wrapped up in performing the tasks that are normally reserved for accountants, salespeople, and office managers. While many believed that the introduction of technology has aided in increasing efficiency for businesses, the need to multitask can also disconnect the owner from placing their attention towards more important tasks that focus on growing the business. The following list of top time killers for small businesses is the largest contributing to combating effective time management.
1. Waiting for information.
2. Dealing with unscheduled communication.
3. Managing inefficient coordination.
4. Planning to plan.
5. Facing barriers to collaboration.
6. Spending time offsite, lowering productivity.
7. Tending to customer complaints.
8. Spending time on business trips.
9. Maintenance issues.
10. Working at home with distractions.
Best Solutions for Small Business Time Management
To increase your small business time management, the following solutions will help owners to successfully control their task demands and meet obligations.
1. Implement Collaboration Tools
Use a single unifying communication system that will sync processes and increase daily productivity.
2. Prioritize Responsibilities
Prioritize your tasks by level of importance. At the beginning of each day, tackle the most difficult first and work towards the easiest. Ignore tasks at that time that are not of high value to your overall goals and objectives.
3. Use Online Platforms
A variety of online platforms are intelligent to integrate into your business that focuses on payroll, travel planning, and administration functions. This would alleviate a lot of demand placed on the small business, allowing the owner to focus on other tasks that offer more results.
4. Integrate Mobile Apps
Mobile apps can add value of small businesses when it comes to saving time and providing an ease with accessibility.
5. Use Technology as Needed
With mobile technology on the rise, you can easily become burnt out from excessive device usage. Designate times of the day that you pick up mobile devices and use them as needed. Multitasking otherwise when you should be focused on other important tasks at that time can burn you out and work against growing productivity.
