Time Management for SME OwnersPosted by Nick Niesen on October 28th, 2010 SME owners have to manage everything: from the hiring and managing of employees to seeking clients to planning the business strategies for the company. Is there a more efficient way out?? ?I just haven?t got the time? Does that sound familiar? Well, it sure does to the majority of SME owners. What probably once started out as a ?One person operation? has now grown into a real business and in some cases has turned into an uncontrollable monster that has got out of hand. The problem? From juggling the accounts and doing all of the hiring and firing through to creating more business and forming the company strategy, the SME owner usually finds it hard to let go. After all, they were responsible for the initial growth of the business, indeed they still are, but there must be a more efficient way of getting everything done and still having a life too! The notion of us not having enough time is not new. However, time cannot be managed. Time cannot actually be controlled! We can only manage ourselves and our use of our time. So what can the SME owner do to make the most efficient use of their time? In order to do this, the SME owner needs to identify two critical areas: 1.What they should be doing on a daily basis to add the maximum amount of value to their business; 2.What are their current time stealers? The tasks and the occurrences that get in the way of them achieving No 1 above. Many SME owners get so bogged down with ?The doing? that they fail to identify what it is they should be doing and what actually gets in the way of them doing it!
An old mentor of mine once said: ?If you could take the tasks that you are currently doing that have the biggest impact upon your business in terms of profit and turnover and just do them all day, every day, what would they be and what would the impact be?? These were wise words! As soon as I started to only do the tasks that were on a par with or above my hourly rate and gave the rest out to others, my business soared. The same can be said with SME owners. Many SME owners think that by ?letting go? of certain tasks or hiring others to do them, it adds to their cost base. Yes, it does add to the cost base but what does an additional 80 per cent of you doing what you are best at generate for your business in terms of turnover and profits?
Where does your time go? Many SME owners get so caught up in the day-to-day running of their businesses that they just don?t realize where their time goes. Before they know it, it?s 6:00pm and if you ask them what they have achieved they probably couldn?t tell you. The first step in sorting out your time management problems is to identify where your time goes ? keep a log of what you do and when you do it. Complete that for a week or two. After you have compiled your log, take a look at it and identify the most frequent time stealers that reduce your effectiveness in the workplace. These could include: All is not lost, however. You can reclaim your time! 1.COMPLETE A BUSINESS AUDIT EACH MONTH Take a look at your business and make a note of your top priorities for each day/week/month. Make a decision on where you want to focus your energy and then look at everything else you have been doing and decide what to do with it. 2. DON?T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF 3. DELEGATE 4. OUTSOURCE 5. PERSONAL ORGANISATION 6. PROCESS IMPROVEMENT 7. IMPROVE YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS 8. FOCUS ON STRATEGY 9. IMPORTANT AND URGENT TASKS ARE NOT THE SAME 10. KEEP ON IT! Like it? Share it!More by this author |