Running a small business can be like an exhausting rollercoaster but there is a solution to help.
When people ask me what I do, it’s very easy to say ‘virtual assistant’, and I can and do provide that service, BUT I am that and a lot more!
A great way of explaining how I help business is to use this. It is the time management matrix from Stephen Covey, which you may have seen before. Fundamentally, it looks at how we spend our time based on the importance and urgency of a task.
As a business owner, this becomes relevant when you look at how you spend your time and if it is a good use of your time with your business owner’s hat on.
So many people in small business spend their time heavily entrenched in Q1 dealing with tasks that are urgent and important and the result is that their time becomes very pressured.
Sadly, this means that time with friends and family suffers, preparing for the growth of the business may not happen, and relationships that may benefit the business and its owner are neglected.
This is where I come in.
I help business owners proactively deal with their time. Moving as many tasks out of Q1 – Necessity, freeing the owner up to focus on Q2 – Effectiveness tasks.
Let me give you an example.
Sam is a local plasterer. He is swamped and when he is on jobs his day is interrupted by the phone ringing with customer enquiries, potential sales leads and impending deadlines for jobs. When he gets home in the evening, he still has to send out quotes, keep his books up to date, deal with emails and deal with calls he didn’t get around to in the day.
He is tired and stressed, and his home life is impacted. Sam knew he needed to offload some stuff but didn’t know where to start.
It’s exhausting, isn’t it?
How did it change? Well, we did a thorough review of how Sam was spending his time and analysed it based on the four quadrants. Immediately this threw up a long list of tasks Sam was doing that were not necessary for him as the business owner to be involved with.
We managed to identify some quick wins that would instantly free up his time, for example
 Set up a call answering service – this meant all calls are answered professionally and to a script of his choice. When a call comes in, Sam receives an email, and he can allow time in his day to do deal with all of his callbacks at one time.
 Implement a customer contact programme – an email or WhatsApp so that the waiting clients are fully informed about the timeframe of their work.
Help with the paperwork – We keep the books up to date and package client quotes. Not only freeing up Sam’s evenings but also giving a professional feel.
Implement a keep in touch system with previous clients – Sam is busy now, and we want him to stay that way. So, a regular email, text, social message or flyer to keep Sam as the go-to plasterer will keep the repeat business and word of mouth referrals coming in.
Help with scheduling jobs and resources – Understandably Sam wants to know that he is ready for each job. So, we can work together to ensure his time is used effectively.
If you want to make your time more efficient drop me a line nataliehariram@thebluedog.co.uk
(picture source: www.franklincovey.com)