If you’re like most small business owners, there are never enough hours in the day to complete every task on your list.
Often you’re faced with prioritising what you need to do right now – deal with a customer, meet a deadline, attend an event – and the things you know you should do for the ongoing growth of your business.
Scheduling time to attend to these business activities on a regular basis is a great way to get on track for greater success.
Here are several ways you can create good business habits.
Know your numbers
It’s not uncommon for business owners to lose touch with how well their business is performing on a day-to-day basis. But an awareness of your real time income and expenses is the key to making better decisions that will nurture growth.
Implement these changes and see the difference they make in your business:
- Switch to an online accounting solution that offers access to real time data anywhere, anytime
- Monitor your finances on a daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis; review the data with your accountant often
- Check in on your other numbers, too – your website metrics and software analytics – so you know whether your marketing, lead generation, and sales tactics are working.
Update your business plan
Companies should update their business plan at least once a year—sooner if there’s an upcoming change that requires planning, financing, or re-assigning resources (for instance, a product launch, an opportunity to start importing/exporting, or a new side business).
Many business owners neglect to revise their plans on a regular basis. They end up operating on autopilot, losing sight of their bigger goals and the steps they planned to take their business to the next level.
The start of a new year is an excellent time to set goals, mark milestones, and start implementing your plans. The timing also lines up nicely with closing out the previous year’s books, so you can plan with your latest annual figures in mind.
Hire help
It sounds simple, but the self-sufficient, independent nature of many entrepreneurs can make it difficult to get comfortable delegating responsibility. Finding the right people to relieve the burden of doing everything, all the time, is the only way a business can scale and reach its potential.
Think carefully about how you spend your days. Are you still at the point where you want to – or need to – do it all? The ultimate success of any company is to reach the point where it can run without you, so you can enjoy a holiday, pass the business on to a family member, or sell it.
It can take time to find the right people that you can trust to perform their jobs well and continue to grow your business. A recruitment agency can help you craft an attractive job description and recruit so you can focus on strategies that can bring you greater enjoyment and success.
Developing new business habits takes time and commitment – but the pay off is well worth it! Which of these business habits is most important for you to commit to this year?