Business Operations

Practical strategies to help small business owners organize workflows, improve processes, and manage daily operations more efficiently.

TIME MANAGEMENT

Effective Daily Planning: Getting Things Done

Business Operations
TIME MANAGEMENT

Effective Daily Planning: Getting Things Done

virtual assistant

It's no secret that the world is a fast-paced place. We're constantly inundated with new information, technology, and change. For many Accountants and CPAs, this pace can be overwhelming. If you don't take the time to plan your days, you can easily lose focus and become less productive. This can lead to even more stress and anxiety as you try to play catch-up.

Not planning your day can lead to missed opportunities and goals and can hurt your client relationships.

Learning to be more productive in your everyday life is important to combat this. And while there are many different ways to increase productivity, one of the most important is learning how to effectively plan out each day.

First, you must define what "done" means to you and your staff if planning their day. Knowing your "done" will help you plan realistically (and stop when it's 'done' – no perfectionism allowed). This may mean setting a daily or weekly goal for what you want to achieve. For example, if your goal is to complete your continuing education plan, "done" could mean completing two hours daily. If your goal is to engage more with your followers on social media, "done" could mean posting and interacting three times a week. Once you clearly understand what "done" looks like, you can start to really plan your days.

Next, you must decide what end results would make the day a success for you and your team. This will help you focus on what's truly important and let go of anything that isn't. This step involves really thinking about what you want and need to achieve. If you don't know what results you want, it's pretty hard to plan your day effectively!

The next step is to break down those desired results into tasks - the actions you need to take to make the day a success. Be mindful of what you choose to prioritize, you don't want to waste time doing tasks that won't help you achieve your daily goals. This is also a great time to note any tasks that you can delegate to your virtual assistant to lighten your load.

Planning and Preparing

Now that you've decided what "done" looks like, selected your goals for the day, and broken them down into tasks, it's time to start planning and preparing.

What does that look like? For many, it involves planning out times throughout the day for specific prioritized tasks. Start with the most important tasks first.

Part of the planning process also involves preparing. Ensuring you have all the necessary resources is an important piece of the productivity puzzle. Try sketching out a general plan for the week in advance and list the resources you need to obtain or access for each task. Especially if it’s something you need from someone else or if you need to provide it to a staff member so they can do their task. Preparing in advance allows time for you to get all of those things together.

Another part of the process is to plan ahead. Use a weekly or monthly planner in addition to the daily plan. Planning ahead allows you to allocate your time appropriately to achieve your goals. If you want to complete a large number of work tasks, but you also have several doctor appointments, meetings, kids’ activities, etc., scheduled that week, you’ll quickly see that you do not have as much time as you thought and you can prioritize tasks accordingly.

Bonus tip:  Publishing the company's weekly or monthly plan also helps your staff better plan their day!

You can also use productivity technology that's available to you to make your tasks easier. Many tools are available today that can automate processes or at least make them simpler or faster to complete. Digital planners, Google Calendar, productivity apps, AI tools, scheduling tools, etc., are all technology resources you can utilize to make your life (and work!) easier. Don’t get so caught up in finding the “perfect” technology to use either – the best tools are the ones you will use consistently.

If you are not as productive as you think you should be or if your staff hangs out more at the water cooler, using a strategy like the ones shared above can be an excellent way to get things done by focusing on the goals and tasks most important to your accounting firm.  And finally, check your plans often to ensure they match your goals and adjust when necessary. What works in the summer months may not be realistic during Tax season. 

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Pros and Cons of Working from Home with Pets

2 Comments / Business Operations
Pros and Cons of Office Pets

Pros and Cons of Working From Home With Pets

virtual assistant

I am writing the outline for this week's blog with my cat, aka the C.E.O. sitting on my lap. She is pretty content, purring away and ensuring the correct distance between her and my keyboard. However, if I try to move beyond the bounds of that distance, she lets me know her displeasure with a quick paw stretch that usually involves the claws and my leg!!

This month we've had a few days dedicated to our pets - International Cat Day, Black Cat Appreciation Day, and National Dog Day. So many of us are working from home, trying to run our business in this new remote environment, and have become regular fixtures for our pets. So I wonder how many of us have changed our routines to accommodate our new office mates? With this in mind, I thought it would be fun to look at the pawsitive side of home office pets and the not-so-pleasant side.

The pros of home office pets: 

Health Benefits - Working from home can lead to a sense of isolation and bring on depression and feelings of loneliness; however, studies have shown that a quick cuddle with fluffy can help reduce those melancholy feelings. And I don't have to tell you that stress reduction equals better health. Studies show that pets reduce stress and anxiety, so it maSeparation Anxietykes sense that we are now more productive and focused when working from home.

No Separation Anxiety - Our furbabies get stressed when we're gone for long periods and may exhibit behavioral problems - the pillow just exploded! - to more severe withdrawal symptoms such as not eating or drinking water. However, with their humans working at home, our pet's separation anxiety is seemingly reduced, and our furbabies are happier than ever!

Ice Breaker – Picture it: you're on a Zoom call with your team, but no one wants to speak up. It's really not much different from the live team meetings you used to attend in the conference room physically, or is it? Then, suddenly your fierce feline jumps up on the desk and turns her attention to your face leaving her, umm, back asset facing the webcam. Pets are funny and can be a welcoming ice breaker.

pet distractions

 

The cons of working at home with pets:

Curiosity – This is the flip side of the ice breaker. Sometimes our furbabies' interest can go a little too far and become a significant disruption. It's hard to control something when we don't know when it will happen. How we react, however, is the key. I've stopped worrying so much about my cat's interruptions and just go with it. Most days, I can get her to settle in my lap with minimum distraction.

Pet boredom – You are home, so to your fluffy little furball, that means you're at their disposal - It's playtime! To help alleviate the boredom factor, set up play times with your pet throughout the day. In the morning, for example, before you start your work day, and again at the end. The important thing to remember is to have consistent interaction times. Consistent routines are very beneficial for pets and will help relieve anxiety disorders. Keeping to the same schedule as much as possible is good for them and you.

pay attention to me

Disruptions - When you work from home and have pets, disruptions will happen, The sudden and immediate need to go outside, a frantic barking session, or the chasing of a "ghost" mouse. Aside from locking yourself in a separate room away from your pets, there isn't much you can do to prevent these disruptions, which, as we know, usually happen at the most inopportune time.

 🐾🐾🐾 

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client communication

How To Communicate With Your Client

Business Operations
client communication

How To Communicate With Your Client

virtual assistant

As a small accounting firm, your main goal is to deliver an exceptional client experience to everyone who solicits you for business.

However, building trust and confidence in your clients isn't just about offering a great product or delivering world-class service. Well, it is, but it's also more than that.

Communication plays a huge role in whether people decide to become repeat clients of yours.

After all, even if we're doing our very best job for people, sometimes things go wrong that are outside the realm of our control. Let's face it, most accounting clients dread hearing from their accountant. Very rarely is it good news.

You must be able to communicate effectively and quickly with your clients. How you handle the difficult moments and how you choose to communicate with clients during a high-pressure situation is the real test that determines whether or not they'll return again despite the difficulties that cropped up.

Remember, how you communicate to your clients is the key to helping them grow confidence in your ability to deliver. Therefore, it's crucial that you:

🗝  Remain calm and reassuring throughout your ongoing dialogue with clients.

🗝  Convey a certain sense of empathy so the client will get the impression that you genuinely care.

🗝  When circumstances call for it, apologize or offer to make good on a situation if necessary.

🗝  Help clients stay on track with shared goals rather than dwelling on what may not have happened.

It also helps to remind them why they chose you. It would be best if you always infused the following in any communication with clients:

✔️The value you provide to them.

✔️ How it can help them.

✔️ Let them know they have options and tell them why they are.

✔️ This is also an excellent time to review what you need from them to keep the job moving forward.

And always let them know who to contact if they need support.

Do you control your day, or do your tasks control you? Take our short quiz and find out. The results may surprise you (or maybe not).

Check it out for yourself!  Click below to get started

TAKE THE QUIZ

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client communication

When Do Clients Need To Hear From Us?

Business Operations
client communication

When Do Clients Need To Hear From Us?

virtual assistant

During a business transaction, there are critical times that communication is vital to keep clients feeling like you are in touch and engaged with their unique situation.

Remember that your goal with a recap message is to build a relationship with the client and not just sell to them.

The best recap emails summarize the discovery into two or four key points. First, they reinforce the decision to move forward. A recap email can confirm the next call's date, purpose, and plan. Third, it builds accountability and keeps the lines of communication open.

Your clients will appreciate the communication you are providing. And, they'll be more likely to hire you if you send them an excellent recap email.

So, what are the key points in a project that need a recap or communication?

  1. In the beginning, the introductory phase of your association.
  2. At the start of your project - the kickoff.
  3. At any time they feel confused.
  4. Through each new step of the process.
  5. Whenever there is a delay or problem.
  6. At the project's close, the end of the order or the wrap-up of your business with them.

1. In the beginning

A potential client will make a series of decisions before settling on you as their chosen Accountant.

One might consider the introductory phase to be the most important. Remember, you never get a second chance at a first impression. Therefore, it would help if you communicated clearly and confidently what the client could expect from you during the entire transaction.

Help the client visualize doing business with you by laying out the process with simple, easy-to-understand steps.

Create a simple project map, bulleting each phase with necessary details such as what the client will need to provide and anticipated turnaround times. This will go a long way toward helping them understand what will happen and who will be responsible for what along the way.

Finally, you'll want to exchange contact details and any other pertinent information such as account numbers, personal identification, and any relevant matters that pertain to the service or products you'll be providing to them.

2. The Kickoff

Once the introductory phase is complete, you will want to help clients stay on track with the timing and details of any work you do for them. You can fill them in on exactly what will happen, so they know what to expect going forward.

One helpful piece of communication that you can hand out as you onboard new clients is the Welcome Email or Welcome Letter.

The welcome message gives a client the confidence you are committing to them and that the two of you (or a group if that's relevant) are partnering or teaming up for success.

You should customize the content of your welcome message according to the client, the specific project, and an estimated timeline of how long it will take. Streamline this process with a general timeline for your template, but insert details before printing and handing it to the client.

3. When They Feel Confused

New clients tend to ask specific questions. You may even notice that most of the new clients you deal with have the same questions as other clients did when they first began working with you.

You may feel like a broken record giving the same answers repeatedly all day long, which results in a lot of unnecessary email typing and talking on the phone.

Of course, the accounting and tax preparation business you have lends itself to talking on the phone or in person with clients, and you may not have the option of getting out of this.

However, the simple addition of an FAQ area of your website, or FAQ handout you provide to clients, can drastically cut down on the amount of time you spend explaining things to the people who solicit your services.

Your Frequently Asked Questions handout should include all aspects of your business that tend to confuse people the most.

What do people always ask you? Write that down. Then think of other things they ask you. Brainstorm "through your client's mind," list out, and answer.

You can continue to build on your FAQ, modifying it from time to time. Any time a client comes to you wanting clarification on something, write down their question. Then take some time to answer it in detail, and add it to your FAQ file.

4. Every Step of the Way

A quick email message signals forward momentum in your step-by-step process with clients. Of course, it only takes a short, written wrap-up to let them know a phase is complete, but this brief message will add to the confidence and trust your client holds in you.

At each step, you can sum up:

  1. What was accomplished during this step.
  2. Any deliverables you provided (so they can be reminded of the ongoing value you deliver to them).
  3. Any problems that came up during this step.
  4. Any outstanding items that will need to be addressed.
  5. What to expect in the next step.
  6. How long you expect the next step to take.

5. Another Delay!?

Delays of any kind will cause your clients to doubt you and begin to worry. They may fear that you will not be able to deliver the end product the way they prefer or in the allotted time frame. In addition, they may worry that you cannot be trusted - after all, they likely don't even know you.

A brief and reassuring message that lets them know you are handling their issue or attending to their details quickly and thoroughly will ease their discomfort.

As you work on similar projects for various clients, you will notice a pattern of issues that may come up repeatedly. For example, a recurring problem with Accounting firms is that the client does not promptly provide the necessary information.

You can work through this challenge by creating a short template of common problems. For example, your template can explain the delay, or it might make a request for the client to fulfill, which applies to each type of delay.

Keep the messages you create in your file of templates. Print or email and use as necessary when future clients voice complaints about things outside your control realm.

If problems occur that you know you can handle but must be worked through in a routine fashion, your proactive message will go a long way to dispel their fears, increasing their trust in you as their chosen provider.

6. That's a Wrap!

When your work for the client concludes, send them a brief wrap-up bulleting the work completed.

Thank them for their business and remind them that if they have any questions or would like to leave a positive review, please reach out to you via email, phone, or whatever your preferred method of communication may be.

One last thing:

Keep invoicing separate from the "final wrap-up" message - these should be two separate areas, as you do not want your clients thinking about payment in the same context as what was delivered.

 

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personalized marketing

Personalize It!

Business Operations
personalized marketing

Personalize It!

task virtual assistant
When your clients are happy, they stick around. Studies show that having long-term clients helps you build a trusting relationship which makes it easier to ask your clients for referrals and testimonials. A key ingredient to keeping your clients happy is personalized marketing. 

Some of the benefits of personalized marketing are:

➳ Create a more familiar connection between you and your customers by providing them with content that is relevant to their needs.

➳Provide a better experience for your customers because they get what they want when they want it.

➳Boost customer retention because customers feel like their interactions with the company seem more personal, more important.

➳Keeps your customers interested in your product by providing them with exclusive offers, discounts, and deals just for them.

And, in order for personalized marketing to be successful, you must first know your customer:
1. Research your client
What are their pain points? What are their happy spots? You can use the information you find out about them, and the tools of your trade, to help solve their problem so that they can move through your funnel to the next solution.

 

2. Follow them on social media
Set up alerts on your social media accounts and on Google, to get their updates first. This is going to enable you to check out the messages your top customers are sharing and stating to their friends, family, and if they’re also business owners, their audience.
You can also use their social media to help them by sending messages based on their behavior such as, “I noticed you shared that article about social media marketing. You’ll probably like this article too; I especially liked this part...” or, if you observe them trying one tactic, but you know another one is better, just give them the idea through a personalized message.

 

3. Visit their website
What are their offers? How does the website look? Does it load quickly? What about their keywords and phrases? Do a search and see where they fall. Use this information to send them a personalized web service.
Your goal here is to keep informed about what your clients' current needs are and use that information to offer customized advice based on their actions.

Our jobs as marketers are to understand how the customer wants to buy and help them do so.

-Bryan Eisenberg

So now you have all this wonderful information, what do you do with it? You may not have thought about it before but there are plenty of ways that personalized marketing can help you connect with your clients:
Record a Personalized Video Message 

One way to really wow your top clients is with a private, recorded, personalized video message. You can do this to promote something, to say thank you, or just to say hello or happy birthday. Videos are a hot trend in marketing today, and a personalized video takes you over the top!

Customer Anniversary 
The day your customer first became your customer is a very important date that you should remember. You can use your shopping cart software to examine this information and get the right dates, or the day they signed your service contract. Sending your customer an anniversary message and "thank you for being my customer” message is a great way to create deeper, more trusting, and long-term relationships with your customers.

Customer Birthdays 
Knowing customers’ birthdays is beneficial because it shows customers that they matter enough to remember their special day and it allows you to better tailor communications to your client. Send a specialized birthday message, bonus points if you send a personalized video, to thank them and give them a little coupon or even a real gift, like an Amazon or Starbucks gift card. Get creative and send a QR code to take your customers to the video. Put it on a creative and fun e-card, or add it to a birthday card you plan on sending through the mail. Add something sweet and chocolatey, and you’re a winner.

After Purchase
Whenever your big clients make big purchases, they deserve a little extra high-touch. Send them a personalized thank you mentioning what they purchased, and offering to give them the extra help they may need to make their purchase a success.

Before a Big Event 
If you’re having a big event that your top customer is part of or coming to, send them a personalized message that thanks them, assists them, and makes them even more excited for the event.

New Launch 
If you are getting ready to have a launch, and your product is ready but hasn't hit the market yet, open it to your top customers first. Let them in on the sale early by sending a personalized recorded video message with a link to a personalized “secret” sales page.

Goal Success
Did your client or customer reach an important milestone or goal? Send a special personalized recording as soon as possible after they have achieved success to help them celebrate.

To Say You’re Sorry
Have you ever made a mistake or had something that didn’t go as planned? Heartfelt apologies can go a long way, and a recorded video apology will really wow them.
It has been proven that doing just a little extra will make you really stand out to your top customers and result in an amazing payoff! And bonus? It's actually going to be enjoyable to do, and you’re going to get a lot of valuable information from these customers. They will be helping you perfect your marketing messages to all your customers today and in the future. Plus, due to the added personal service you're providing to your customers, they’ll end up acting as brand advocates, and they’ll likely brag about it again and again to everyone they know.

Good marketing makes the company look smart.

Great marketing makes the customer feel smart.

-Joe Chernov

I would love to hear your ideas on different personalized marketing techniques. Feel free to add more ideas to the comments.

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business plan

A Simple Guide to Creating a Realistic Business Plan

Business Operations
business plan
A Simple Guide to Creating a Realistic Business Plan
task virtual assistant
“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” – Pablo Picasso
I can start and end this post with Picasso's quote; it says it all. The truth is most businesses that fail, or owners that burn out do so due to a lack of planning.

 

Many small business owners think their home or small business does not need a real business plan because they are not trying to get a business loan. So why do you need to do all that planning? For starters, if you want to succeed, and you want it to be repeatable, and you want to avoid the potential for burnout, you must develop a business plan. A business plan will help you structure, run, and grow your business realistically and sustainably. And guess what? Creating a business plan isn’t even hard to do. So let’s learn how to make a one-page business plan for your home or small business right now.

 

Think of your business plan like an owner's manual; it should be specific to your business and include as much information as you need to help guide you with your business. Let's look at the below seven key elements that should be included in your one-page business plan.

 

Describe the Problem
You’ll want to write a detailed description of the problem you can solve for your customers, along with any relevant data describing how you can do that.

 

Your Product or Service
This is the solution to the problem above, so you’ll want to go through each product or service you offer and describe how it solves the customer's problem. Keep in mind that your plan does not have to be contained to only one page. If you have more than one solution, this area might take more than one page; however, going through this can help you with marketing later.

 

How You Make Money
This is considered your business model. Therefore, it is important to answer these five questions:
  1. How will you make money?
  2. How much will it cost you to make money?
  3. What is the price the customer will pay for the solution?
  4. How will the customer pay - online service such as PayPal or Stripe, check, cash?
  5. What are the terms - payable on receipt, net 30 days? Will they need to pay before services are rendered, and if not, will you require a deposit?
Describe Your Customer
Understanding your target market is an essential component of your business plan and your business planning needs. Include a customer avatar through the buying journey. Talk about how many customers there are and how much you can earn from each customer throughout their life cycle.

 

Describe How You’re Different
What sets you apart from your competition? This is called your “competitive advantage” in business. It’s how you use your differences to stand out from the competition and create customer loyalty.

 

Describe Your Team
Even if it’s just you, it helps to write down all the tasks and roles to accomplish to make this business work. Then, include the technology you can use, such as email marketing software, funnel software, and other automation.

 

If you plan to outsource anything, write that down too. Maybe the first year you’re doing it yourself, but include financial metrics that trigger outsourcing or major software purchases.

 

Include Key Financial Metrics
You need to know what your budget is for marketing, software, outsourcing, and so forth. This is often called a Financial Summary in a business plan. You’ll want to include figures for now and your future as you forecast potential sales. Finally, you’ll want to add what funding you need right now to get started or to move forward with your business.

 

For now, focus on writing a summary of each section to see what needs to be done. Then, as you move forward, you can add more information to the plan, which may make it grow past the one page, but it will be a helpful exercise to help you keep on moving toward your goals.

 

And, as you move toward your goals, remember one of my favorite Yogi-isms, "If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else." - Yogi Berra.  Writing down a realistic business plan that balances with your entire life will help you see your goals and objectives more clearly and plainly, thus allowing you to really accomplish what you set out to do rather than keeping it as a dream.

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prepare for disaster

If Disaster Strikes, Will You Be Prepared?

Business Operations
prepare for disaster

If Disaster Strikes, Will You Be Prepared?

task virtual assistant
Chances are that sooner or later you’ll face some sort of a disaster that will leave you without power, and hinder your access to purchase necessary supplies. It could be a natural disaster like a hurricane, snowstorm, flood, tornado, or earthquake. It could be a manmade disaster that has the power grid failing or requires you to stay put in your home such as the COVID-19 pandemic. No matter what strikes, we can lessen the personal impact by preparing for disasters most likely to occur in our area.
Your first step in disaster preparedness is to find out what types of emergency situations happen in your area. Take a few minutes to research and know what types of disasters your area is most susceptible to. I've listed a few natural and man-made disasters below to give you a place to start.

Natural Disasters:

Hurricanes originate in the Atlantic basin, which includes the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the eastern North Pacific Ocean, and, less frequently, the central North Pacific Ocean. If you live in any of these areas you should prepare for hurricane season which is most active from June 1st to November 30th.
The only difference between a hurricane and a typhoon is the location where the storm occurs.
Typhoons most frequently occur on the western Pacific Ocean off the east coast of Asia near Japan. Typhoons, like hurricanes, have a long, active season running from May 15th to November 30th. The only real difference between the two storms is the location where they occur.
Tornadoes are more common along the Great Plains of the central United States, known as Tornado Alley, and are caused when dry cold air moving south from Canada meets warm moist air traveling north from the Gulf of Mexico. However, don't be fooled into thinking they only happen in “tornado alley". The U.S. tornado threat shifts from the Southeast in the cooler months of the year, toward the southern and central Plains in May and June, and the northern Plains and Midwest during early summer. Tornadoes can occur and have been reported in all fifty states as well as in many parts of the world, including Australia, Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. Two of the highest concentrations of tornadoes outside the U.S. are Argentina and Bangladesh.
Violent tornadoes do happen outside “Tornado Alley” every year.
If you live in the North East or south of the Great Lakes, you should get ready for big snowstorms and blizzards. But, like tornadoes, these storms can occur anywhere, albeit not as likely. If you're on the East Coast of North America, you will have Nor'easters to consider, and along the Pacific coast - earthquakes. Mother Nature does believe in being fair and gives everyone a little something!

Man-Made Disasters:

Man-made disasters are not confined to one specific area, hence the term "man-made", and can happen anywhere. However, you may live in an area that is more prone than others. For example, if you live near a dam, you may need a plan of action for flooding. Do you live near a wooded area or large forest? Then you need to consider wildfires. If you live near a nuclear plant, you should think about a way to get out quickly if something were to happen at the plant. You get the idea. What disasters we prepare for will be different for a lot of us and what sort of emergency plan you have will depend on those variables.

Get Prepared

Should I stay or should I go?
The first question you need to ask yourself is where you will go when an emergency arises. Will you stay at home and shelter in place? Will you head out of town and evacuate? How long are you prepared to stay at home, and at what point do you decide to evacuate?
Obviously, those decisions may be outside of your control, such as in the event of a mandatory evacuation, but there will also be plenty of times when the decision is up to you.
Where Will You Go?
If you are heading out, where will you go and where will you stay? These are important questions and you don’t want to make those decisions when you are in the middle of a disaster. Those are stressful times and it can be hard to make smart decisions quickly.
A big part of your emergency preparedness plan should be to think through possible scenarios and then get the information you need ahead of time. For example, figure out what routes you can take to get out of the area, determine where you want to go if possible, and then get the contact information for a hotel or the people you’ll be staying with.  If you have pets, keep a list of pet-friendly hotels in your go-bag.
How Will You Stay In Touch?
There is nothing scarier than not being able to get in touch with loved ones during a disaster or emergency event. Just as important is being able to get news and emergency alerts or announcements. Think about how you will accomplish this both while you’re on the road and when you’re staying in your home or emergency shelter.
Making sure everyone has a mobile phone is a great start. Keeping your devices charged on a regular basis will help make sure you have a full battery in case of an emergency. Put extra chargers, including car chargers, in your go-bag. Having an additional battery or a backup power supply will come in very handy as well.
Be conservative with your device usage to make the battery power last as long as possible. Turning off data when you're not listening to news reports is an ideal way to conserve battery. It’s important to talk to your kids about this ahead of a disaster and remind them regularly.
Just as important, don't rely on just your smartphone for news and communication. A backup plan will come in handy when you can’t get a good connection or run out of power on your device. Designate a meeting point or a person that everyone contacts when you can’t get a hold of each other. Have a backup solution for finding out what’s going on like a weather radio.
What Supplies Do You Need?
Start with the basics you need for survival including food, water, shelter, flashlights, candles, and matches (keep them in a waterproof bag), prescribed medication, and a first aid kit. Don’t forget about your pets.
From there, start thinking about creature comforts like light, entertainment, and the likes. Having a headlamp and a good book can make waiting out a power outage a lot more pleasant.
Be Prepared
Think about what makes the most sense to you and your family. If you are able to stay put, you can take care of issues as they pop up and prevent further damage. If a storm blows out a window, you can board it up and prevent water from coming in for example. At other times, it may be safer and more convenient to get out of the disaster’s way.
For all cases, you will want to prepare in advance and have a go-bag for every member of the family, including your pets. Things move fast when a storm hits, especially when evacuations are ordered. You don’t want to waste time trying to make decisions and gathering supplies.

The more prepared you are, the safer and more comfortable you’ll be when disaster strikes. Download our free Emergency Supplies Checklist to help you along the way.

DOWNLOAD NOW
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Organizational Efficiency

Organizational Efficiency: The Anatomy of Your Business

Business Operations
Organizational Efficiency

Organizational Efficiency

The Anatomy of Your Business

task virtual assistant

The first thing to think about when you seek to make your days more manageable and more effective are the parts of your small business, the anatomy. What parts of your business are essential to your success? You'll need to look at your situation for each business to determine it, but this can get you started.

While all businesses share the same fundamental parts, some businesses, especially home solopreneurs, may place importance on different functions depending on their goals. But these potential essential parts of your small business bear consideration so that you can create a solid automation plan.

I will show you how you can create organizational efficiency in all areas of your business, no matter what your business type. This is not about starting a new business but rather how to achieve operational excellence in your business by minimizing waste and maximizing values. Make sure you download the accompanying Workbook and follow along to achieve organizational efficiency. [download_after_email id="3291" css="off"]

What's Your Business Type?

Knowing how you have structured your business is vital to determine before you start your automation plans. For example, the way you run and automate an online store where people purchase products will be somewhat different from someone who offers courses or one-on-one personal services.

When you understand the core business, you will know what you sell, who you are selling it to, where your buyers are, and how to find them. You will also see how you're going to distribute the product or serve the customer. Additionally, you know how you stand out from the competition, and you use that to your advantage by differentiating yourself in the marketplace.

So, what is your business type?

Do you have an online store where you sell any type of product, physical or digital? There are many automation tips you can use for online stores.

Do you offer virtual services? Most businesses moved to virtual during the pandemic and continue to stay virtual due to convenience and cost savings. Services offered could range from administrative, one-on-one coaching, social media management, online business management, and so forth. As a service-based business, you will want to organize your business and market yourself differently from an online store where you don't speak to the customers directly yourself and sell products directly.

You may also offer only virtual support and consulting without providing direct service. For example, you may coach your clients to create a sales page, set up a freebie, or set up a discovery call, but you don't do it yourself; you advise them on what to do, and the client with their team does it. This is an entirely different business structure than a business that does the services directly or delivers the product directly.

Suppose you offer classes and "how-to" information to your customers via courses, classes, and content. If you have a business that provides classes, either self-paced or teacher-led, this is a training business. A training business sometimes needs more personal input and engagement than a storefront that sells the complete self-paced course.

There are numerous opportunities for automation in each of these business structures. Get out your workbook and write it out:

  • What is the composition of your business?
  • What do you do for customers and clients, and how do you do it?
  • Are you hands-off or hands-on, or a combination of both?

The more you can document how your business works, the easier it will be to find ways to automate and outsource.

Workbook Task: write out your business structure
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What's Your Job as The Owner of Your Business?

As a small business owner, you probably think that you have a lot of jobs to do. Some people like to describe the job of a business owner as one that wears many hats. However, your main job description as a business owner is to plan and organize the daily operations of your business.
On any given day, you may be responsible for:

  • Developing your business plans
  • Arrange financing
  • Hiring staff or contractors
  • Reviewing sales
  • Developing marketing strategies
  • Overseeing daily activities
  • Identifying opportunities

All these jobs represent your primary function as a business owner, analyzing the performance, whether it is automation or human, to minimize risk. You do not need to do the tasks yourself physically. Remember, your job as a business owner is that of risk management. Realistically, you may have to wear a lot of hats at first, doing all the tasks; the trick is, figuring out when it's time to let go.

Finding and setting up automation in your business is one of your roles as a business owner. By doing so, you will reduce risks associated with your business because you are going to ensure those tasks get done in a timely fashion by someone (or something) who knows what they're doing.

The more you can automate or outsource, the faster your business will grow because you're going to free up your time so you can discover new opportunities for your business.

 Do You Know What You Do All Day?

As a business owner, you have a lot on your plate. But, to figure out how to automate your business, you first need to know, in detail, what you do all day long. This exercise will aid you in determining which tasks can be automated, which can be outsourced, and even whether it's something you should be doing at all.

You will have daily tasks, weekly tasks, monthly tasks, and even quarterly and yearly tasks in every business. The best thing to do is get out a calendar and enter the items you know you have to do.

For example, you have to pay quarterly taxes, and you have to balance your books at the end of the month. You must buy a business license each October or January depending on your location and the rules and laws in your area. What you know has to be done should be entered into your calendar and block off the approximate time it will take you to do it.

But what about the daily things you do that generate your income. When it comes to generating revenue, it's essential to specify which actions you are doing that generate income and which activities you're doing that support generating income. Go through the steps you take in your day and write down what you're doing, step by step.

Coaches' example of a typical day:

  • Business: Coaches retired teachers starting a second career as independent course and project designers.
  • Morning: Checks the mail, email, and Trello to determine if there are any fires to put out before diving into the day. Calls her group coaching clients for the weekly group coaching session. Writes product educational and nurturing emails for a new one-on-one coaching product ready to launch.
  • Afternoon: Records part of an online development course. Transcribes the group call and sets up her part as a standalone presentation video.
  • Evening: Answers coaching client questions for those who signed up to receive daily emails and, using automation, schedules delivery in the morning.

Of course, this one day is not representative of all the money-making tasks this coach does, nor is it a complete picture of what happens in the business overall. Still, it does give you a great idea about where to start automating and even outsourcing. Once it's written out and you visually see all that you do, it becomes easier to know where you can improve your process.

Workbook task: Take the time to write out every task you do or need to do each day.
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How to Do More with Less

Many of us believe that being successful means being busy. The truth is, being busy does not mean that you are productive, and many times, quite the opposite. Did you know that multitasking makes you LESS efficient and thereby unproductive? You can also be busy doing the wrong things. The truth is successful people know that getting more done with less implies that the impact you make is more significant than your effort. Now that's a success!

So how do you do more with less? First, you need to Understand your key objectives. What is the point of doing a particular task? Does this task impact any of your critical business objectives or the objective of the one task?

If it's not a front-burner task or something that only you can do, put it on the list for automation and outsourcing.

Once you clean up your list and down to the tasks you need to do, it's time to get organized. Add them to your calendar and create your schedules realistically. For example, you know a task takes two hours and that you need some setup time, so plan three hours. You also want to batch like tasks together. The purpose of this is the fewer steps you can take, the better. For example, if you need to do bookkeeping, save all your booking entries to do one day a week instead of doing it daily.

Next, you want to make sure you are using the right tools. If a tool exists to help streamline your business and eliminate busy work, you need it. There are so many tools out there, developed because of a need, by business owners just like you. I've listed a few in the workbook to help get you started. You can also check out our Resources page to see what we use and recommend.

Now put it into action! Remember when I said turn off all distractions? That goes the same for your tasks. Set up your workspace to eliminate distractions and interruptions. Turn off notifications, your phone, the TV, or anything that can take your mind off what you are doing. Set a timer for each task and track how you are spending it; you will be surprised by the insight you will gain here! Time tracking also helps you gain a better understanding of how long your tasks take.

Remember that being organized in your business is part of what a business owner does. Business owners reduce risk in their business by organizing, planning, and generating new ideas that create new opportunities.

Workbook task: look at each task and prioritize by the impact and effectiveness
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To learn more, check out our 4-part Time Management series starting with https://thetaskva.com/what-is-your-time-vampire/

The Ultimate Boost in Productivity: Automation and Outsourcing

Being productive is an essential element in any business owner's life. Business owners are busy and need to use every moment as efficiently and effectively as possible. Most business owners continually research ideas that will boost their productivity, but the truth is the ultimate boost in productivity will come from a combination of automation and outsourcing.

Now that you have taken the time to write out your business goals, understand your core business, and audited your internal processes, it's time to apply that knowledge to help you with automating your systems or outsourcing.

Remove Bottlenecks

When you start to automate and outsource tasks in your business as you develop each process, you will notice that bottlenecks are a thing of the past. Because the truth is, in most small businesses, especially those run by people starting them from home with no business experience, the bottleneck is the business owner.

When you want to outsource or automate something, you will need to write down the process to visualize every step, including the impact of the actions. Through these business processes, you will create a situation where you improve every single function you have.

Sometimes lack of skill causes a roadblock. Sometimes you may lack desire or energy because everything becomes so overwhelming. But whatever the reason, if you are engaged in organizing and planning and focused on automating and outsourcing, ensuring that others are responsible for their tasks, you are going to get more done.

Even if you do not have a skill, you can find it in software or find it in an individual or company. Simply put, a sole proprietor or a small business can perform like a big business due to increased capabilities.

Reduce Errors and Mistakes

When you work with software, fewer mistakes will happen, provided you set it up correctly. If you don't know how to do something, you're going to make mistakes as you learn. But if you hire an expert, they're going to make fewer mistakes. If you use technology and set it up correctly, there will be no mistakes.

The truth is, hiring experts or using automation software can reduce your errors and mistakes so much that the cost will produce a fantastic ROI (return on investment).

There has never been a better time to be a small business owner!  There is an endless resource of technology to implement in your automation plan and plenty of people to hire in your outsourcing plan. Figure out what you want to do, set your goals for doing it, and then follow through.

The work you produce will be much better when you work with technology and contractors to see your vision come to reality.

Spend Time on Higher Value Projects

Focusing on your primary business, which is the core of your business's existence, is the biggest reason of all to automate and outsource. While you may need to do things in your business as a job, once you reach specific benchmarks, you should automate those tasks that you can and outsource the others to spend time on business planning and idea generation, which is the key to business growth.

When you have more time to judge how your business is performing, and you've developed each process to be the most efficient possible, you're going to have more doors open for you when you need them.

Workbook task: develop your processes
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To Outsource or Automate, that is the Question

There are numerous things you can automate in your business. Some things you may have already thought about or started, such as email marketing. But others you may not have thought of yet, such as auto file generation, event registration, data collecting, file creation, document sharing, and form filling.

From time tracking to expense management, anything that happens repeatedly is ripe for automation, and think of the many saved hours in your workday and work year. Those are hours you can use to create even more fantastic products and solutions for your ideal audience.

Automate

If you can document the steps you do for a task, you can likely automate a lot of it. From using macros within your documentation to implementing new automation tech, there is probably a way to do it.

The best way to determine what you want to automate is to track what you do each day, week, month, and year. Review the daily process you recorded in your workbook.  For tasks that repeat, do a little research about how other people automate that task. You may be shocked to learn how simple automating your business is. Automation is not nearly as expensive or complicated as you may think.

Outsource

As you learn more about business automation, it is essential to understand another way to automate your business, which is by hiring someone else to do the work for you. No automation plan is complete without an outsourcing plan.

Hiring experts to deliver work for you on your behalf is called outsourcing. If you cannot automate it, you can likely get someone else to do it for you. If you outsource to a contractor, they are not employees because you can only make requirements on the deliverables but not on how they use their time creating and producing the deliverables.

A few common areas to outsource are legal work, finance, technology needs, marketing, graphic design, customer care, administrative tasks, and writing. Most of these tasks are cumbersome and overwhelming, and small business owners can save a boatload of time, stress, and money by outsourcing.

As a business owner, you should make it your goal to outsource or automate almost every task in your business.  When you outsource more, you free up your time to focus on what you do best.

Wrap Up and Where to Go from Here

Beginning today, start tracking what you do every single day. Don't make any changes yet; simply follow what you're doing. Pay attention to the things that you do that are repetitive. Also, note the tasks you would rather not be doing or spend a lot of time figuring out how to do.

Make a list of these tasks, and then look at the software and tools you are already using to find out if you can add features or integrations with other solutions to get more out of what you're doing.

Most of all, remember that productivity does not mean that you have to be busy all the time. The opposite is true. Being busy is only an indicator of movement, and all movement isn't impactful. Test your results. Measure your efforts so that you can improve as you go.  Before you know it, you'll have a smooth-running, mostly automated business and finally have control over your most important resource, your time.

Download our free Organizational Efficiency Workbook and start taking control of your time!

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Organizational Efficiency: The Anatomy of Your Business Read More »

You Have To Know Where You Are

Business Operations
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You Have To Know Where You Are

To Get To Where You Want To Be

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Are you ready to take your business to the next level and watch some explosive growth unfold over the coming months? That's Great! Before you start to plot and plan what you want to do to make that happen, it’s important to stop and look at where you’re at right now.

Business planning for future success is all about data. You can work most efficiently and spend your time and money most effectively if you know exactly where you are starting from. By recording data, you can start to see what’s working, what isn’t, and what trends are starting to play out. And it all starts with recording where you’re at right now.

Let’s take a look at some of the things you want to record. First though, you should decide how you want to record this information.  You can write it down by hand in a notebook, open up a word document to do it digitally, or use a spreadsheet. I prefer a spreadsheet because I have the option to have it calculate fun additional information like weekly and monthly averages and even map it all out in graphics to help me get a clearer picture...and well, it's a spreadsheet! Truly my idea of a good time!! No Kidding!

Traffic – To grow you need to expand your reach. That means getting more traffic, but also engaging the people that come to your site by encouraging them to click around and read more. Good things to keep track of are total visitors, unique visitors, bounce rate, and of course where the traffic is coming from. We'll talk more about this in upcoming segments.

List / Subscribers – Your next goal is always to get these people on your list. If you don't have a list, you need to start one! Digital Marketing is no joke, and a necessity for today's businesses. Here you want to track total number of subscribers, conversion rates for each of your opt-in forms and pages, open rates for your emails, and also unsubscribes. As you start to collect and review this data regularly, you’ll get a much better picture of your subscribers. We'll cover digital marketing another time.

Customers – Subscribers are great, customers are better. Start by keeping track of how many total customers you have and how many purchases per day, week, and month. Other good numbers to look at are total lifetime value of your average customer, repeat purchases, and refund rates.

Income & Expenses – Last but probably should be first, look at your bottom line. This is your typical accounting data. You want to keep track of your income as well as your expenses. With those two sets of numbers, you can easily calculate your overall profit. I find it helpful to look at profit for the month, but track income on a daily basis.

Yes, you can look at most of this data in various different places like Google Analytics, your shopping cart, and your autoresponder service for example, but it’s important to have it all in one place. This makes it much easier to connect the dots and see the relationships between the different sets of numbers.

Now that you have your initial data collection set up, make it a habit to update the numbers regularly so you can see what’s working, what isn’t, and how much you’re growing as you move through the coming months and years.

You Have To Know Where You Are Read More »

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