Small Business Time Management Tips: Turn Minutes Into Money

Time Management

Here are some best practice tips in small business time management:

Plan each day, or it will plan you!

• Master your smart phone calendar system, by hour, day, week, and month.
• Record all events in your smart phone.
• Learn to sync your PC and smart phone calendar. This way, you won’t duplicate time and efforts.
• If you don’t have a smart phone (I love my BlackBerry), go buy one now!
• If you hate smart phones, use a day planner.
• Master e-mail usage on your smart phone.
• Check e-mail once per hour, not every time an e-mail arrives.
• Block and manage e-mail spam.
• Learn to say no during business hours. If an activity does not fit with your daily objectives, goals, and plans, kindly say, “No thanks.”
• Use voice mail as an answering machine, but use it tactfully.
• Set aside time each day to return calls.
• Manage interruptions with tact and gentle force. For example, “Thanks for calling, but I cannot talk right now. May I call you back so we can discuss your needs?”
• Try to keep your desk organized.
• Work on the most important projects first, and then work your way down the list.
• Stay focused on revenue-generating activities first.
• Spend more time reading than watching TV.
• Manage small talk, within reason. Networking is important, but beware of fluff conversations.
• Be careful with do-it-yourself home projects—they are often a net loss. If your time is worth $300 per hour, it’s better to pay someone else $15 per hour to cut the lawn while you generate income. Unless, of course, it’s a form of relaxation and stress relief!
• Listen to MP3 and CD training material in your car.
• When standing in line for any reason, check your smart phone e-mails and review your calendar for updates or changes.
• Exercise at least three times per week.
• Get to bed between 10:00 and 11:00 PM every night.
• Wake up five to ten minutes earlier every day until you find your sweet spot rising time (provided you are getting to bed earlier) and your optimum amount of sleep needed.
• Don’t start watching a movie with the family after 9:00 PM Monday through Thursday evening.
• Focus on time with your family. Income is important, but there are some things money just cannot buy. Few people ever stated on their tombstone that they wished they had spent more time on their small business!

Time is like compounded interest. If you start early, it pays off in the long-term. One cannot become a millionaire overnight. It’s impossible. The same holds true with time. The sooner you master it, the sooner it pays you back.

Differentiating your product and service is critical to substantive small business marketing. Few companies see time as a value-added product feature. If you do, you automatically have an edge up on your competition. Time is money, and money is time. If you waste time, it’s a net loss.

For more overall small business marketing tips, see my book!

By Stuart Atkins