Running a homebased or small business is an exciting and thrilling challenge. You have much more freedom when you’re working for yourself; however, your new found freedom can also become an obstacle for you. When you work for someone else you are told when to work and how long. When you work for yourself you don’t have anyone looking over your shoulder and telling you when to do your work. You may find yourself struggling to manage your time and be productive while running your small business. There are several things that you can do to ensure that you stay productive and stay in business.
You should set up a regular work schedule.
You may balk at the idea of doing this given the fact that you may have started your small business to avoid having to work at a set time each day. However, it’s imperative that you still do so. The bright side is that you can set your schedule for any time of the day, and remember you’re setting the schedule and not someone else. For instance, you may choose to work during the hours of 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday – Friday. Whatever schedule you choose you should stick to it and make sure that you’re there on time each day.
Be sure to utilize your calendar.
You should strive to schedule all of your tasks and appointments on your calendar. If you plan to work on your business on Monday for a couple of hours, block out this time on your calendar. For example, your calendar could have 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. blocked to work on your business, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. for lunch, and 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. for client work, etc. It’s important that you plan in advance, so try to plan your next day’s work prior to leaving your office each day. When you arrive at your scheduled time the next day, you will have your day already planned. You will feel a sense of organization. It will also feel great at the end of the day when you’ve accomplished all of your planned tasks.
If you have small children get childcare.
If you’re new to working from home you may think that you can skip childcare and care for your children while you work. However, doing so may have a big impact, in a negative way, on your productivity. If you have small children, hiring a sitter or utilizing daycare can be a smart move. Having a caregiver for your children will allow you to focus on your business during the time that you’ve scheduled. Once you’re done, you can switch to parent mode and focus your time on your children and give them all of your undivided attention.
Don’t be afraid to delegate.
You also need to make sure that you’re not bogged down with tasks that you do not like doing or you’re not good at doing. Doing things that you don’t like or aren’t good at can really cut into your productivity. You’ll find that delegating these tasks to the appropriate professionals will help your day run much smoother. For instance, if you’re not good at web design, find a great web designer to maintain your website. If you hate working with numbers, find a bookkeeper to handle your bookkeeping. Don’t spend time trying to do it yourself. Also, if administrative tasks are taking up the majority of your day, delegate those tasks to a great virtual assistant. You’ll find that delegating these things will allow you to focus on the things that you enjoy about your small business, thus creating a more productive day for you.
Running a successful small business can be challenging but yet rewarding. Working in a productive manner is an imperative part of a successful venture. If you’re not productive you may find that your business is chaotic and disorganized. Make sure that you strive to make each day as productive as possible to ensure a great future for your small business.
