Juggling your time

When you're wearing so many hats as a small business owner, it's hard to keep everything you need to do in perspective.

I write about this conundrum in Question 2 of The Small Business Success Guide (get your copy online via Booktopia). You're head of sales, marketing, production and customer service accounts for your business. You hire staff, often do your own Business Activity Statements (BAS) and organise your own business trips, as well as all the other things that go into running your business.

As your business grows, you tend to keep all these same hats on because that's what you've always done. Yet most small business owners I speak to complain about never having the time to look up to see where they're going because they're too busy trying to keep track of all the balls they have in the air.

However, it's vital you make time to control your juggling act. Plan your day. Allocate a specific time to follow up on account queries. If someone calls outside this time, tell them you'll call them back. And schedule 15 minutes a day for this purpose only.

By planning your day in chunks of time, you'll be sticking to your schedule, not someone else's, and you'll be amazed at how much more in control you'll feel.

While you're at it, think about allocating just 15 minutes in your day as "big picture time" where all you think about, and write down, are things to do with your vision, goals and strategy. Do this five days a week for 52 weeks a year and you'll have spent 65 hours ON your business!

Go for it.

Margie