Category: Time Management

We live in an age now where subscription-based software is available everywhere. Compared to even a few years ago, it has helped small businesses afford software that in some cases they could never have before. It’s made software accessible.

We’re all busy, so here are my software favourites that will save you time and make you work smarter.

Customer Relationship Management

If you run your business out of a spreadsheet, or if your customer base is in your head you need to invest in a CRM. A cloud-based CRM is an extremely affordable way to manage your client data. It helps organise notes, contact information and even store your emails without you having to lift a finger. In my business, we introduced our CRM a few years ago and now it has truly become the brain of our company.

We use: www.capsulecrm.com

Cost: £12 per user p/m

Pipeline Management

If I asked you now, do you know exactly how many sales you can expect in the next three months? When are they going to drop? How much will they earn your company? Would you be able to answer instantly?

Managing your Sales Pipeline through software gives you an incredibly flexible way to build your sales funnel. It helps you manage your pipeline efficiently, working out your average sales cycle and help manage your calls and customer follow-ups.

We use: www.pipedrive.com

Cost: £12.50 per user p/m

Task & Project Management

Are you constantly battling against projects and tasks that seem to bog you down? If you do find that there aren’t enough hours in the day, write a list.

If you write a list it helps you find the most important tasks and prioritise them. In my company, we use an incredibly powerful task and project management software package that allows us to add tasks, collaborate in our teams and schedule in due dates.

We use: www.asana.com

Cost: From £7.99 per user p/m

With these 3 pieces of software, you can make yourself work smarter for under £35 per month.

If you would like some software support, why not arrange a chat with me?

When you start your business and don’t have many customers it feels like you have all the time in the world to spend time planning your day and your workload. As your business grows and you get more customers and commitments, spare time can be sparse. You sometimes feel so overwhelmed that you wonder if it’s even worth it. Even more so as your team grows it can sometimes make you feel extremely swamped, juggling meetings, financial commitments, and HR duties.

Here are my top tips on making your day just that little bit easier.

Use these in your day to day and start #winning

Tip 1: Automate

Investing in Automation as your business grows will give you hours of your time back, as it will take over the laborious, menial tasks that you don’t really have time to do. In our business, we use automation software to manage our email marketing, sales follow-ups, and bank reconciliation.

Automation software is usually affordable and often the time-saving factors add value to the offering. Don’t always look at the cost. Some software may seem expensive, but when you look into how much time it will save you, the value outweighs the cost. You then have this time to spend on far more important tasks.

Tip 2: Delegate

As your team grows you need to learn the art of delegation. Delegating tasks to your team empowers them by giving them the ownership and responsibility to get the tasks done efficiently.

In the early days, it can be daunting to pass tasks to your team. I remember feeling very nervous, but as long as they are fully trained they usually take on the tasks wholeheartedly and give you peace of mind that no task is left forgotten.

Tip 3: Plan Plan Plan

Planning now saves time later. It’s a human trait to rush but in business just getting everything done now can hinder long-term growth and add to unplanned issues later. We typically find by spending time at the beginning of a project planning, it saves anything up to 50 hours later down the line.

Every member of my team knows what they are doing. I plan my entire day and week using project management software, individualising each task. I can then easily plan my tasks in priority order and then see exactly where my free time is. This ultimately makes us all more efficient.

Stepping Away

Once you’ve got these three points nailed in your workflow you will really start seeing where roadblocks occur and how you and your team can work smarter. From this planning, automation and delegation you will find It much easier to step away and give more responsibility to your team.

If you’d like to have a chat about this, please do book me for a free 15-minute phone call.