11 tips for 2011

Business Doctor Simon Hodgson reveals how you can get the most out of your business in 2011

There’s no better time to take stock of what’s working and what’s not in your business. The New Year is the ideal time to put in place the necessary changes to get the most out of your business and, ultimately, increase productivity.

1.  Make yourself a promise that, this year, all the things you have thought about doing in 2011, you do. Put some real emphasis on managing the tasks and targets you have set yourself and do the same with those you work with.

2. Work out when are you at your best. Is it during the daytime, towards the latter part of the evening or at the crack of dawn? When you have decided at which point throughout the day you’re most productive, preserve this time to tackle jobs that demand your greatest creativeness, imagination and unbroken concentration as your powers of concentration are at their highest. You’ll save yourself time, because you won’t be trying to deal with things that you’re not really mentally alert enough to undertake.

3.  If you’re anything like I used to be, you frequently check your messages throughout the day and respond to email alerts constantly. STOP! If possible, reserve half an hour to an hour at the beginning or the end of each day to answer emails and phone messages (unless the messages are urgent). Develop a more cost-effective attitude with regard to your time and how you spend it. Time is money after all.

Type up some typical answers to email or phone enquiries so you’re not wasting time trying to think of responses to various phone callers who tend to ask the same types of questions. Likewise for emails — don’t waste time typing out a new one each time; have a couple of stock emails that you send out to potential clients.

4.  Know when to say no. We would all like to help out where we can, however try not to extend yourself too far. By taking on too many things, you’re in danger of completing none of them satisfactorily. Performing fewer tasks successfully is preferable to producing a large number to a second-rate standard. If you are able to assign some of your tasks to someone else do so, in order to avoid over-working.

5.  Make it a priority in 2011 to remain up-to-date with industry news via journals, magazines, product launches and current overseas trends. Definitely spend more time talking openly and honestly to your suppliers.

6. If you have a website, create an online payment facility so you lessen the need for handling cash and cheques.

7.  Be aware of when you’re wasting time. The email you responded to from someone who was not a client, on a busy Monday morning, has generated more correspondence than you would have preferred but, ultimately, with no purchasing of your goods or take-up of your service. Stopping to have a quick five-minute chat with a colleague during a busy part of the day turns into a 40-minute gossip session. That brief call you had to take became a 30-minute interruption. Invest in a timer of some sort and get into the habit of expecting each phone caller to come to the point of the call within two to three minutes.

8.  Aim to handle mail. Theoretically, deal with mail as soon as you’ve read it. If you don’t have to keep it, put it in the bin straight away. If it can be left to a later date, file it at once with a date to clear the matter. If action is necessary, do so as soon as possible. Keep your work space as free from clutter and unresolved issues as you can.

9.  Stop trying to be a one man/woman band. Even if you’re currently a small business of just one person (such as a home business, life coach, publisher or lettings agent etc), it’s just not possible to do everything yourself. Enlist the help of someone to offload at least a few of those time-consuming secretarial/administrative tasks to, such as producing your documentation, answering phone calls, responding to routine emails and telemarketing. Work out which parts of your business can be handled competently by another professional and either employ someone or outsource it.

10. Ensure your advertising, whether it be magazines, website or local papers, is a true reflection of who you are and what you represent. It’s hard enough getting a potential consumer through the front door or on the phone. Don’t let them down by portraying yourself as one thing, then delivering something completely different.

11. Be very conscious that, in 2011, the consumer is going to be even more educated than last year and will demand that you and your staff be ahead of the rest to gain their confidence. Stay in front of the pack, do some training; there’s plenty out there now.

If there’s a subject you would like an opinion on, or just some general advice, email me at s.hodgson@kbdi.org.au

Simon Hodgson is a Director of the Kitchen and Bathroom Designers Institute and runs Direct Representation, a consultancy business to the kitchen and bathroom industry.

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