Running your own small business is a lot of hard work. From product development and customer relations to marketing and financial management, there is a seemingly endless list of things that each small business owner must do every day.
For this reason, it is critical that small business owners are as efficient with their time as possible, and this is undoubtedly the primary aim of most. Even still, there are a number of common time wasters that sap the time and energy of small businesses. Here are the top 6 you should be aware of.
- Emails
Yes, we live in an age when everything happens over email, and as a small business owner you need to be on top of your emails to keep in touch with customers, suppliers, and other contacts. However, constantly checking and responding to emails can literally take all day, meaning you never achieve anything else.
Rather than constantly checking your emails, set aside specific blocks of time to check and respond to emails. This will make sure you stay on top of your inbox without it taking up all of your time. After all, most people don’t expect an instant response to their email, but if their email gets lost and you never respond this could be a major issue. If you are constantly drawn to your inbox by notifications that keep popping up, simply turn of the notifications!
You can also cut down the tide of emails you need to sort through by automatically deleting spam or junk emails, and assigning emails that don’t need a response to specific folders. You can set up rules to do this through your email software.
- Micro-Management
Managing staff is one of the most import responsibilities of any small business owner. However micro-management is not only a major time waster, it can also drive your employees mad and may even cause you to lose some of your best workers. Ultimately you need to trust in your employees, and trust that you made the right decision in hiring them, and let them do their job.
Signs of micro-management include reading and analysing every email they send, hovering and listening in on their phone calls, and generally picking on individual actions rather than general behaviours. Rather, communicate to your employees the general way you want things done. If they are not following these instructions, sit down with them and address it, reinforcing the approach you want.
- Online Marketing
Online marketing is not a time waster in itself: digital marketing is an incredibly powerful tool for small businesses to grow their customer base and drive profits. However the approach that some small businesses take to online marketing can be extremely inefficient, wasting a lot of time and money often to not even achieve the results they could with a better approach.
This is particularly true when it comes to websites. Websites are an essential tool for all businesses in 2020, no matter how small. However, many small businesses invest a great deal in hiring a professional web developer, when they can easily make their own site using one of the many user-friendly website builders that are available these days.
- Social Media
Similarly, social media, if not handled correctly, can be a big time waster. Social media is an important marketing tool for small businesses. However, failing to automate your social media accounts will mean that managing this manually will take a lot longer for the same (or worse) results.
Signing up for a social media management tool like Buffer will allow you to automatically schedule social media posts in advance and across multiple platforms. These tools also have extra features that allow you to track the performance of your posts and refine your social media strategy.
- Too Many Meetings
An open work environment with lots of communication is important or any business, especially small businesses. Meetings are definitely a part of this, but too many meetings can be a huge waste of time for you and your employees.
It can be tempting for businesses to schedule meetings when another form of communication, whether an email, a phone call or a quick face-to-face chat would do. Why spend time on a meeting if you don’t need to? It is also important that you make meetings as productive as possible, for more results for less time spent.
- Inefficient Financial Management
Small businesses spend a significant amount of time each day chasing late payments, and on financial administration in general. Again, budgeting and financial management are a critical aspect of managing any small business, however ineffective approaches can often make this a time waster for small businesses. Streamline your financial management by using online accounting tools, and if you are spending way too much time in this area, consider hiring an accountant to help you.