How To Be A More Productive Small Business Owner
As specialist small business accountants in Milton Keynes, we understand that life as a small business owner can get pretty stressful. Many small business owners often find themselves working until late at night just to get all the things on their never-ending task list done. This in turn has a negative impact on both their health and productivity levels in the long-term.
However, even though you may end up doing far more work than a regular 9-5 job, being self-employed definitely has its perks. The biggest advantage of being self-employed is that you can choose when to work. So whether that’s from 9am-5pm, or 6am-2pm, is up to you. Having said that, it’s important to try and work sensible hours so that you can have a better work-life balance and avoid the ‘burnout syndrome’ that is all too common. Good time-management and self-discipline are the keys to high productivity levels.
Here are a few simple tips to help you be more productive throughout your working week:
1.) Wake up and start work early
This may seem obvious, but many new small business owners can get into the dangerous mindset of ‘as long as the work gets done, it doesn’t matter when I do it.’ Although self-employment does offer a lot of flexibility, this kind of attitude could be potentially disastrous for your business. Firstly, in any business you will have deadlines to meet, which are generally during the daytime! Secondly, although it is becoming increasingly common to see opening hours such as ‘always open’ on Google, realistically most communication between business owners and clients still takes place during office hours and not at 1am! So by starting work early you can ensure that you don’t miss any opportunity to communicate with potential clients who may try and contact you.
Waking up and starting work early can also help you to have a better work-life balance, which will benefit both you and your business.
2.) Exercise
It’s no secret that a good workout boosts both your energy levels, especially if you exercise first thing in the morning. Doing just 15-20 minutes of exercise can really help you to feel more alert and increases your productivity throughout the day. It’s also great for relieving stress, which small business owners tend to have a lot of!
3.) Make a list!
A lot of new small business owners get quite a shock at how much work is involved in running a business. When you are first starting out, it is very likely that you will be working on your own for some time before you are in a position to hire staff. This means that you literally have to do everything yourself. Rather than trying to do everything at once (and not getting anything done as a result), try making lists – in order of priority – to help manage your time and workload better.
If you are a small business owner and are looking for a firm of reliable small business accountants, please get in touch to arrange a free consultation with us today.