If you are running your own small business, chances are you are going to run into the problem of time management. Wasting time in a small business can be a chronically unnoticed problem by the over-scheduled, busy shop owner. It is critical that when you operate your small business you are running the most time efficient schedule for both yourself and your employees. Included here are a few ways you could be wasting time in your business and how to stop the leaks.
Doing Inventory
Do you find yourself completely unaware of how much stock is left? Are you having to do inventory on a weekly or monthly basis? Inventory is a huge process and can be a total waste of time. If you take the care to monitor inventory as the day progresses, you will always have an understanding of what is left.
Consider implicating a few tools to help you manage your stock and inventory to save time in the future. It is possible to buy a simple scanner to store in the stock room and scan each item as it leaves the warehouse. This way, your inventory will always be kept updated in the computer system and you can cut those inventory checks down to yearly, or not at all!
Micro-Managing
As a small business owner, you are far more invested in the company than anyone else is. However, this can bleed into your management techniques for the worst. While you do want everything running smoothly, it is crucial you train your employees and then leave them to do their jobs. Micro-managing will drive your employees crazy and waste valuable time of yours that could be spent on better things.
Putting Off Simple Tasks
Have you ever gotten to the end of the day and wondered how you ended up with 300 emails? Feeling like the bills just keep piling up and there is no time to sit down and pay them all? You may need to work on your time management of simple daily tasks. By doing each task that takes less than a minute or two as soon as it arrives, you can greatly cut down on your weekly office hours. Bigger projects must be organized and have deadlines set to avoid any late fees or missed deliveries.
No Social Media Strategy
Nearly everyone is aware that social media is a time-sucking ninja. You log in to check your notifications and look up two hours later. The most dangerous place this time-waster can be utilized is in the workplace. While it is very important to have a social media strategy, logging in at work can be especially dangerous for the productivity of your day. Make sure you give yourself a set amount of time for posting and research before logging off for the day.
Failure to Outsource
Those small business owners tend to be self-starters, and occasionally over-the-top do-it-yourselfers. Do you find yourself wasting hours trying to figure out how to do something just so you can “save money” by doing it yourself? Those hours you spent learning how to do something poorly could be used better in the business world.
Successful business owners know how and when to outsource tasks. This can be something as simple as hiring an administrative assistant for one day a week or hiring a specialist for routine maintenance. Don’t wear yourself down doing things that don’t need to be done by you and learn to loosen the reins and outsource.
