Terrific Tactics That Will Make Your Business More Efficient

by | Blog, Contributed Post

Inefficiency is bad in business because it means wasted resources. Unfortunately, if you are wasting resources you are also wasting money, such as supplies, person-power, and time. All things your company must ultimately pay for. That is why a focus on efficiency is essential if you are looking to maximize your business success. Happily, you can discover some fantastic ways to improve the efficiency of your business, below. 

Automate. 

Many businesses see automation as a luxury they cannot yet afford. However, the truth of the matter is that automating certain processes can save so much money in the long run, that they are well worth the initial investment. 

In particular, look to automate repetitive or mundane tasks, as these can often be performed much faster by using an automated process rather than a human. 

Also, by automating such tasks you will free up your employees to work on other projects. Indeed, this can have a double benefit. Firstly, you workers are likely to be happier focusing on more complex and project-dependent tasks, which means better motivation and productivity. Secondly, you will have more personal power to devote to these which can both speed them up and help to ensure the most positive outcome. All things that will boost the efficiency of your business. 

Pick the right people for the task at hand. 

Another way that you can ensure your business is as efficient as possible is to assign the right people to the tasks that need completing. What this means is playing to your employees’ strengths and previous experience. 

Of course, sometimes, particularly specialized tasks will need to be completed by experts that you do not have within your business. Writing a customized software program for example which would mean you need to outsource an IT expert to help you. 

Similarly, if you have a complex marketing task then you need an outsourced marketing agency to help you. Indeed, it is the most efficient way of doing things concerning time, quality, and cost. After all, getting your own non-expert employee ‘up to speed’ in this area will take considerable time and effort. Neither of which is a particularly efficient way of running your business. 

Minimize distractions. 

Distractions, in their many forms, are efficiency killers in most businesses. We are talking about things that seem important but aren’t, such as meetings, answering emails as they come in through the day. Even queries from other employees can hamper people focusing on the task in front of them, something that means it takes them extra time to complete it. 

With that in mind, minimizing any of these efficiency sapping distractions is essential. One way to do this is to ban meetings, or at least limit them to a maxim of 10 minutes. A great way to do this is to make everyone stand for their duration, as they will quickly put a stop to anyone that is going on too long. 

Distractions from email and queries by other employees can be solved with the same solution – batching. This means you assign a time in the morning and afternoon of each day where people can answer emails and ask questions of their colleagues such as 30 mins. However, outside of this time, both activities are not permitted, and so the distraction they cause is greatly reduced. 

This is a contributed post

Image found at Pixabay – License CC0

Scale Your Business with these 4 Automated Systems

Scale Your Business with these 4 Automated Systems

by | Time management

There comes a time in every entrepreneur’s journey where you realize you simply cannot do it all by yourself.

I know that when you’re just getting started you need to be the “chief, cook and bottle washer.” But as your business grows, it becomes obvious that trying to do everything is only going to lead to:

  • Frustration (when critical tasks don’t get done and deadlines are missed)
  • Burn out (when you’re working yet another 12-hour day)
  • Overwhelm (when your to-do list is longer at the end of the day than it was at the beginning)

I know that there are many ways to combat this business-growth obstacle, but one of the best is automation.  I want you to imagine a completely hands-off system that works for you even when you’re spending time with your children or even hiking on a remote mountain.

But there’s a more important reason to automate: it helps you scale your business. Think about it, the less manual work you have to do, the more time you have to do the money-making tasks such as networking, marketing, and client support.

1. Paid Traffic

Chasing organic traffic is a true exercise in frustration. You’ll spend all your time creating content for your blog, other people’s blogs, YouTube, social media, and other web properties. All that content creation leaves you little time to work with the clients you’re trying to attract.

Instead, you can invest in some quality paid traffic, and get off the endless content creation train. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.

2. Email Funnels

What happens when you get a new subscriber or if someone buys a product? Do they just sit in waiting on your list until you have time to send an email?

While broadcast emails have their place—especially in time-sensitive promotions—be sure to also set up an autoresponder/sequence series to:

  • Welcome new subscribers and help them find their way around your site (and your offers)
  • Nurture buyers so they know they’re in the right place
  • Make additional offers based on what someone has already purchased or shown an interest in

And the best thing? Once your autoresponder is set up, it will continue to work even when you’re not.

3. Social Media Management

Yes, it’s important to be personable and engaging on social media. But that doesn’t mean you have to log in to Facebook just to post a link to your latest blog or YouTube video. Automate that kind of update and save yourself hours of time each month. Not only that, but you won’t have to worry about missing an update, either!

4. Calendar Management

If you have clients, partners, a team, or are often asked for interviews, then an automated calendar is a must. Rather than endless back-and-forth emails trying to find a mutually available time slot, simply send your calendar link and let your client, project manager, JV partner or anyone else choose a time that works for them. Your appointment will automatically appear on your calendar, and you’ll even get reminders (if your calendar supports that).

There are dozens of options for automating every aspect of your small business. As you grow, you’ll find new and better tools to make everything run more smoothly. For now, though, implementing these four ideas alone will save you hours of time every month.