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Last Saturday we all lost an hour when the clocks went forward – or did we actually lose anything? Time is something we all have the same amount of, but what makes the difference is how we make the most of it. We all start the year with 525,600 minutes each or 8760 hours. If you sleep a third of them that leaves 5,840 hours, and considering that ‘time is money’ how do you make the most of them?
There’s a clear pattern with our clients when it comes to time. There’s no time to effectively communicate with customers through social media, tracking time spent is a problem leading to indecision, and non-money-making activities take up too much time.
Social media has changed how we communicate with our customers but yet so many small business owners feel they don’t have the time to use social media. There are some useful tools and apps that help save at least some time on Social Media. Sites like Hootsuite and Buffer allow businesses to schedule content across multiple social media platforms meaning the bulk of content can be generated in one sitting, meaning business owners get on with money generating tasks knowing that the bulk of their social media is being taken care of.
Toggl is another fantastic tool. It tracks how you’re spending your time. You can set Toggl to track time on a client, a specific project or specific tasks. You can easily see how much your time is worth, identify what’s making you money and find the things that are holding you back. You can then use your time focusing on the clients, projects and tasks that make you money.
Another trend we are seeing today is the increasing use of Virtual Assistants. A study from the Harvard Business Review found that delegating repetitive, less productive tasks can save up to a 1/5 of your time per day… That’s an hour and a half every day, or about £150 in you can earn £100 an hour. That’s where a VA comes in. They are freelancers you hire in on an ad-hoc basis, a little like a pay as you go phone. You only pay for the services you need without employing staff. They can do social media, book keeping, admin tasks, sales calls etc.
In short time is money for small businesses and while it can be difficult to find time to do everything there are always options out there that help you get on with the business of making money.
