6 Time Management Tips to Grow Your Small Business

Peter Drucker once said — “Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed.” If you are running a business, always remember time is money. If you can’t manage your time wisely, you will be leaving a lot of dollars on the table. It’s time to grow your business with 6 effective time management tips.

From bookkeeping to inventory, payroll to marketing and sales to customer service, you will be wearing a lot of hats every day. If you don’t plan out your day, you will compromise the operational process, which will result in hampering the growth of your business.

The rule of thumb for any small business owner is to manage their time effectively — organize tasks, prioritize and execute them in the right and perfect way. That’s where time management comes in. Having a pre-defined plan will boost your productivity and set the foundation for business growth.

Here are 6 time management tips that every small business owner can use to beat procrastination and grow their business like a PRO.

Table of Contents

1. Set SMART Goals

When it comes to goal setting in business, specificity is key. The more precise and definite your goals are, the easier it is to achieve them. Using the SMART methodology, you can break down your business goals into five quantifiable factors:

Specific — the goal should have a crystal clear endpoint. It shouldn’t be vague or ambiguous.

Measurable — the goal should be tracked and measured to know whether you are on the right track or not, whether you have met the goal or not?

Attainable — the goal should be realistic and doable in a set period of time. If you set ambitious goals, then it will be extremely challenging to achieve them.

Relevant — the goal should be relevant to your objective i.e. growing your business.

Time-Sensitive — the goal should have a timeframe so that you work hard to achieve it in a set period of time.

2. Create a Work Schedule

Organizing and scheduling your priorities every day will help you achieve your goals and increases productivity. Disorganization leads to procrastination and wasted time. Here’s a list of tips to create a perfect work schedule:

Understand your peak work times and schedule your work accordingly.
Prioritize your important tasks early in the day.
Create a routine and stick to it.
Start your work early in the morning.
Save your energy for tomorrow.
Take off on a chosen day.

3. Reduce Distractions

We are living in an interruption-based culture that is damaging our productivity, reducing focus, affecting profits, and in the end, we are unable to attain our goals even the simplest ones like sending promotional coupon emails to customers. So, how can you reduce distractions? It’s simple! Start by turning off notification from your devices – phone, computer, gadgets, etc., disconnect your internet, and politely inform your employees not to disturb you for the next 2 hours.

Now, it’s time to start working on your most important tasks that are crucial for the growth of your business. By clearing distractions, you will get absolute focus on your tasks that will not only increase productivity but also increase profitability and revenue.

4. Learn to Delegate Tasks Effectively

As a responsible business owner, delegating tasks to your team is very crucial because you can’t or shouldn’t be doing all the work yourself and more importantly, you will have time to work on other tasks. On the other hand, when you delegate the tasks to your employees, it helps them in gaining a lot of key skills like learning, trust, and professional development.

Here are a few tips to delegate tasks effectively so your team shares the workload and makes progress that benefits everyone:

Know what tasks to delegate
Choose the right person for the job
Explain why you’re delegating the tasks- desired goals
Provide the right instructions, resources, and training
Give responsibility & authority
Check-in regularly and monitor the progress
Review the work and provide feedback
Say thank you – it means a lot to the team when the owner acknowledges their work.

5. Avoid Multitasking

Doing 5 tasks at once is not called productivity. It will help you in doing thing simultaneously but it will not only increase stress but also affects motivation and productivity. Moreover, business owners who multi-task waste a lot of time, and the chances of increased inefficiency in the output are quite a lot.

Here’s why you should stop multitasking and start single-tasking:

Inability to concentrate and focus
The more tasks you multi-task the more mistakes you commit
Affects your memory and reduces creativity
Causes stress and anxiety
A lot of time is wasted

6. Start Tracking Time

Being a business owner, time tracking might seem insignificant but it is one of the most important ways to manage your time effectively. It will allow you to focus on one task and avoid wasting time on unnecessary tasks. You can also measure the amount of time spent on tasks so that you will have a clear vision when you work on the same type of tasks next time. At the end of the day, week or month, you can gain valuable insights into your time management process.

You can track your time using tracking journals or task management software such as Asana, Basecamp, Trello, Jira, etc.

Here’s how you should track your time:

Make it a habit.
Log time once per day and every day.
Keep track of all the finished, unfinished and recurring tasks.
It’s okay to not log 8 hours per day

We hope our time management tips help you to make the most of your precious time and succeed at your business. The best way to increase the revenue and profits of your business is to manage and spend your time effectively. The more efficiently you use your time, the more productive and successful you become. Always remember – Time is Money.