We are continuing with our series, titled Tips for Small Business Owners, where we seek to provide meaningful advice to small business owners. If you have not already read Part 1, where we highlighted 5 powerful things that every small business owner should do or have done already.
Keep reading to learn more about these and other helpful tips for small business owners, especially if you are thinking about starting your own business or recently launched your small business.
Apply for a business credit card
The main reason why you should opt for a business credit card is to separate your personal expenses from your business expenses. It can be cumbersome and frankly frustrating when tax time rolls around and you are sifting through piles of paperwork and scrolling through statements from multiple accounts to figure out which charges are related to your business. Make it easy on yourself and get a small business credit card strictly for your business and ensure that you stick to that rule. With all your business purchases and payments in one place, you will have no issues preparing your internal reports and filing your taxes.
Work towards a fair work-life balance
Let us face it, “all work and no play make you a dull person”. We have heard and seen this popular view in the public domain for decades and it is true. Each day, you need to carve out at least 1 hour where you can be still, take deep breaths, unplug from all media and technology, and have some “me time”.
Practice good time management
Operating a small business can be quite stressful. Learning to manage your time, money, sub-contractors, client relationships, expenses, and logistics, to name only a few can either give you an adrenaline rush (which can have a positive effect on your productivity) or cause long term stress which can be very harmful.
Anything that causes long term stress in your life should raise red flags and you should seek to find practical ways to reduce and manage those stressors if it is not possible to eliminate them altogether by outsourcing them.
Calendaring
Your calendar should also be your best friend, use it wisely and use it to your advantage. Do not schedule back to back meetings, especially when these consist of presentations or working meetings, which will most likely run late or hinder you from being able to take your hour-long lunch break.
Give yourself at least a 5 to 10-minute break between meetings. Scheduling a weekly call every Friday with your clients to find out what they would need you to perform the following week can give you a head start in your preparations for the coming week. Make sure you also have slots for impromptu errands, lunch, and vacation.
Be organized (even in organized chaos)
Filing is an understated task that many entrepreneurs ignore. However, it is important. Whether you file documents daily or weekly into folders on your computer desktop, Dropbox or cabinet, the sooner you start it, the better.
Filing documents chronologically and by subject/type is even better. Even filing your emails in specific folders will not only help you stay organized but ensure you find information faster.
Being organized improves efficiency, promotes schedule and work flexibility, enhances productivity, and reduces stress.
Use online applications
Use tools that track your time, monitor goals and accomplishments. This post is not sponsored, but we really enjoy using Dubsado for this. You can also use Dubsado to create and send contracts, proposals, emails, appointments, basic reports, and so much more without having to launch Microsoft Word or Gmail.
Automating your workflows is a “game-changer” and saves you time and effort. Applications such as Asana, monday.com, and HubSpot are great options. Please note that you will have to pay a small fee for access to their workflow and project management features.
Research and finalize working hours, packages and prices
As a small business owner (independent contractor) you need to work out, numerically, what a healthy profit margin would be for your business. You would have to take into consideration several factors, which include:
- Your working hours and vacation
- Projects you will handle to cover monthly expenses and tax obligations to replace and surpass your current or ideal salary
- The number of in-person, online or telephone consults you would have to do to convert to sales
- Will you charge per package (which we recommend in most instances) or per hour?
- Your retainer/upfront fee. We highly recommend requesting a deposit prior to commencing any work
- Overtime policy and charges
- Holiday policy and potential charges
- The likelihood of a price increase after a specific time period, and how you would introduce an increase
Brainstorm marketing content
Every entrepreneur’s marketing strategy should include the following:
- Where will you find your clients?
- What are they interested in learning and seeing?
- How will you interact with them?
- What type of content will you share with them?
- Will you use pictures, press releases, brochures, videos, ads, slides, etc.?
- Will you outsource your marketing by hiring a social media manager? If yes, what is your budget and who would you outsource this to?
- Will you provide freebies? If yes, what kind of downloadable free information will you share?
- Will you offer discounts? If yes, what percentage or dollar amount?
- Will you use surveys or polls? If yes, what is your budget? What questions will you ask, how many questions will you ask and what application will you use to survey/poll your audience?.
Marketing is an essential area for every business. Your customers need to know you exist and what you are offering. Moreover, every business needs to be able to manage customer feedback and how to use that feedback for (i) products and services research; (ii) improvements to customer services; and (iii) workflows.
Remember: If no one knows who you are and what you can do, you will not be a successful business owner.
