How Much Is On Your “To Do” List? – Prioritise!

When you first launch a new business, finances can be tight. The costs associated with setting up a new business can start to accumulate, especially if you need to purchase equipment, rent premises or employ staff. To prevent overspending many business owners take the decision to complete most of the tasks themselves, very quickly becoming a “jack of all trades”. As many of the tasks are time consuming, prioritising tasks will be essential. Without excellent time management you run the risk of doing lots, but achieving nothing. Running around like a headless chicken springs to mind!

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It is essential to prioritise your workload and ordering your “to do” list should become part of your daily routine.

At the beginning of everyday, write a list of the tasks which need completing. Your next step is to then prioritise this list according to level of importance. If you can delegate any tasks or purchase software to make life easier – do it! Any investment is likely to be returned tenfold as you will free up more time to concentrate on generating sales and leads. Consider hiring the services of an online receptionist which are priced very reasonably with different package options,1300 numbers cost very little when you consider the amount of time saved.

Here are some tips on how to prioritise your workload.

Check to see if anything urgent needs attention

If anything untoward has happened over night which needs urgent attention, deal with these matters first. Perhaps you have staffing issues, customer complaints, IT failure or sales issues that need attending to. You will then be able to concentrate on prioritising everything else.

Deadlines

Next identify any deadlines looming and make working on these tasks your next priority. Your customers will not be best pleased if you don’t meet the deadlines stipulated. Try to work to deadlines early so that your workload can be broken down into achievable chunks.

Phone calls

Phone calls can be extremely distracting and answering the phone can take a remarkable amount of time. When you are completing projects that require your total attention it would be wise to switch on the answer phone and deal with the call later.

Allocate a specific window in your schedule for responding to calls. Customers enjoy speaking to a “real” person, so making calls is important. Queries and complaints need to be followed up fairly quickly and allocating a specific time in your schedule will ensure that you are able to give the phone call your full attention.

To reduce the number of queries you receive by telephone ensure that you have sufficient information on your website and other promotional media to answer most common questions.

Emails

Responding to emails promptly is essential. Most business contact is made via email so not giving the reading and responding of emails a high priority could potentially

As with phone calls, allocate a specific time to read and answer emails and don’t be tempted to read an email as soon as it “pings” into your inbox. This will just distract you from the task in hand.

Don’t multitask!

Trying to complete lots of tasks at the same to time, is not time used effectively. You could potentially end up with lots of half completed tasks by the end of the day. It is more time efficient to complete one task at a time. This means that each task receives your full attention and you are able to focus.

Outsource

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In all honesty, if you are trying to do all of the tasks yourself you’re likely to burnout very quickly. There simply isn’t enough hours in the day to complete all the tasks yourself. Don’t be tempted to work 24/7 in order to fit everything in otherwise you will have a very unhealthy work/life balance and you may suffer from workplace stress. To run a successful business you need energy and passion, being exhausted won’t have the same effect!

It is estimated that 80% of a business owners time should be spent on generating leads and making sales. Without sales, the business will not be viable. In order to free up time you could consider outsourcing some of the time consuming, but essential tasks.

The internet has opened up the opportunity to connect with freelancers on a global scale. Outsourcing also lowers the costs associated with employment and recruitment.

There are some tasks which naturally lend themselves to being outsourced, here are a selection of options you could consider.

Telesales

Although making sales is a priority for business owners actually conducting telesales is not everyone’s cup of tea! Telesales are essential, but time consuming and sometimes it feels like the return on the effort put in is minimal. Cold calling can often be an uncomfortable and you need to develop a thick skin. Thankfully some people enjoy telesales, so consider outsourcing the task, you can then follow up any leads personally.

Secretarial tasks

There are many records and correspondence to be made as a business owner. These records need to be accurate and the storage of data needs to be secure. You could consider employing the expertise of a virtual PA who could assist with all your paperwork tasks and be able to write up minutes and follow up leads in writing. This will free up lots of time on your list of priorities.

Accounts

Keeping an accurate set of accounts is tedious and time consuming. It is also essential. If maintaining your books is not your area of expertise you could consider hiring a bookkeeper who will help you to stay on track. An accountant can then be consulted at tax return time. This will take a lot of the stress away from looming deadlines.

When choosing the right freelancer to outsource to, make sure you see examples of previous work and seek references. There are many freelancers out there all with varying skills, make sure you choose someone who will be a help to your business and that they are able to use their initiative.

Once you begin to outsource work, communication is essential. As you will not see the freelancer in person regularly, communication systems that are not effective will cause deviation from the task in hand. Follow up any verbal conversations with written instructions as backup.