Time Management Tools for Small Business

Time Management

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Time management is very important for small business owners and entrepreneurs. In fact, one of the biggest problems is when the owner is working 90 hours a week on a consistent basis. Many business owners can't figure out how to manage their time properly. That is why they are overworked and miserable. Here are some time management tools that can help you manage your time better.

Salesforce.com

This is one of the best CRM (customer relationship management) systems out there. Now, I understand that many business owners may not need it because they are not customer-facing themselves. But most business owners interact with customers on a daily and hourly basis. In fact, if you're not interacting with customers a lot, then it means your business may not be going well. In any case, Salesforce.com is a great tool that will allow you to save a ton of time. It will also enhance your customer relationships. It will enable you to load in contact information, create opportunities for your sales and deal pipeline and will allow you to set tasks so you know when and how to follow up. It's much better and easier to work with then keeping all of your customers in an excel spreadsheet or some other static database.

Synced Computer, Tablet, and Smartphone

I've noticed that the business owners who are the most efficient leverage the technology they have. Most sync their computer, tablet, and smartphones together. That way, they can manage their schedules and their projects on the go or when they're out of the office. It can be a bit of a pain to set it up so you can sync everything together. Outlook is a good standard schedule, email and project management tool. The great thing about it is that you can easily sync it with any tablet or smartphone.  If you own Apple products, may apps auto-sync such as Notes, Reminders, and Calendar...all helpful in time management.

Dragon Dictation App

One of the biggest time wasters is when you have a brilliant thought, you forget it, or have to spend hours figuring out the details. You could use the Dragon Dictation App. The basic app is free and very easy to use. You can speak into is and it'll dictate into text everything you say. That means you can take notes on the fly when you're out or on the road.

Basecamp

If you do a lot of project management, you really need to use Basecamp. It's a very useful tool that will support the management of projects. It's also great for teams to collaborate on projects. It collects all of the communications and schedules in one place.  You can try it FREE for 2 months to decide if it's beneficial for your business.

It's important for small business owners to manage their time properly. These are just some time management tools that can help you do that and maximize your productivity.


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Time Management for Business

Time Management for Business

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The common thinking when it comes to business is "time is money."  In order for a business to be successful, it has to be well-organized and efficient with its time.  Proper time management in business is often the key to being successful with both customers and employees, and putting time management strategies to use can have an immediate impact on a business.  If a business is having trouble managing time efficiently, the following time management tips may help.

When analyzing time management in business, one of the first steps is to decide what has the highest priority at that moment and for the upcoming week.  One of the best time management tips for this is to develop an Action Plan for the upcoming week.  This plan should be thought about at the end of each week, and developed in time to be implemented the next week.  Friday is often a good day to develop the next week's Action Plan.  A staff meeting can be held to find out what got done, what didn't get done and what is the most pressing assignment still awaiting completion.  Employees and management can work together to develop an Action Plan, listing the top three items that need to be completed the next week, what day they will be done and who will be in charge of seeing them be completed.

After settling on an Action Plan, the next of the time management strategies is to prioritize.  Take a close look at the items on the Action Plan, and see which of these is most urgent.  Ask yourself how each task will impact the business, and will it have a negative impact if put off too long?  Do the same with the second and third items, and soon the Action Plan will not only have what items need to be accomplished, but in what order as well.  Learning to correctly prioritize for a business is much like triage for a hospital, where the most serious problems get done first and so on until everything is finished.

The next and perhaps most important step in time management for business is learning how to stay focused on the task at hand.  No matter what type of business a person is involved in, there are always distractions trying to intervene.  Some of the biggest problems with distractions come from people who are self-employed and working from home.  With family and friends always wanting to stop and talk for a few minutes, it's much too easy to let the day slip by without getting much work done.  The best way to handle this is to have a regular work schedule, such as 8-5 Monday through Friday when you are officially working.  While hard to initially implement, it can work wonders once followed.  By staying disciplined and keeping distractions to a minimum, much more work can be completed and much more money made.  By using these time management tips, an individual or organization can find themselves being much more productive.

Five Benefits of a Small Business Website

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Despite the nearly universal opinion that internet marketing boosts the income and profits of businesses of all sizes, a disturbingly large number of businesses out there don't actually have a website. The following list includes several vital reasons why a small business should create a small business website. It's important to note that this list represents only a sampling of why it's great for all companies to create websites and that it doesn't take a degree in web design to get a terrific website launched.

1. Advertising is quick and easy

When a company that lacks an internet presence needs to advertise a sale or new product, a lot of time must be put into the marketing strategy for things like billboard advertisements, radio spots, and even television commercials. This is a pricey endeavor for a small business. A small business website offers a much less expensive way to let everyone know about something new and is particularly effective when paired with a social media campaign.

2. Website creation is not expensive or time consuming

There are several resources that will help a small business to create a beautiful website, and whether a web design professional is hired for the job or whether the process is handled internally, utilizing web-based tools for creation requires almost zero technical expertise. Although it is beneficial to have a website specifically designed to be unique for a small business, it's fine to launch the initial website with a simple template approach and automated website design software.

3. Web presence makes customer service easier

Placing a focus on customer service helps all companies, but small companies might have to spend a lot of time on the phone answering questions that could be handled less expensively online. Not only will a website offer a "Frequently Asked Questions" display to take care of most basic customer inquiries, but many customers these days prefer handling their customer service through the internet because it doesn’t require time spent on hold on the phone.

4. Improves company image inexpensively

Refurbishing a brick and mortar location takes a lot of time and money and can't be done particularly often. Making a professional and updated small business website, however, is a much easier process. Today's customers will very often have their first experience with a company through the internet, and so that first impression from the company's website represents a prime opportunity to show the professionalism and polished appearance of the company brand.

5. Increases selling power

The effort put into creating a website and proper web presence that includes things like social media and branding opportunities provides a significant opportunity to increase sales. A website may increase sales through online purchases, or it might allow a company to hit that elusive sales goal that was decided upon at the beginning of the year.

The internet exists as a significant equalizer in making it appear that a business is actually larger than it is, and this means that even the smallest companies can use the internet to create brand growth, increased sales, and higher customer engagement. Creating a website offers far too many benefits to pass up.



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