How to manage your time effectively as an entrepreneur.
It’s a myth that entrepreneurs have a lot of time in their hands because they are their own bosses. Entrepreneurs never have enough time to do all that they need to do everyday, especially when they had just started their businesses. Juggling between raising funds and finding good employees can really be challenging, hence one needs to know how to effectively manage their time.
Time management is critical in everything in life, even in business. Your long-term success in entrepreneurship is determined by the way you manage your time. Business owners turn to have so many decisions to make and are expected to be innovative and stay in the game. All of that can really be overwhelming. Hence the need to learn the technique of managing your time.
Why is time management important? Firstly, it’s a determining factor for your overall productivity. The better you manage your time, the more productive you become. Secondly, it bears a massive impact on your psychological disposition. The worse you are at time management, the more stress you’ll experience, and the more easily exhausted you’ll be in your position.
So, business owner, here are 5 techniques you can use to better manage your time:
1. Draw the line.
Part of being an effective time manager is knowing what to do and when to do it. You must know when to “cool down” and have a firm “go home” time. This line will keep you refreshed, mitigating the risk of burnout, and will help you focus on the work that needs to be done. We know entrepreneurs are passionate about their work, so it’s tempting to take on as much work as possible. However, if you do this at the expense of your personal life, it could have dire consequences for your mental and physical health.
2. Take breaks.
A recent study suggests that working for 52 minutes and breaking for 17 is the optimal pattern for productivity. As ridiculous as it sounds, it is a fact that taking breaks will actually help you stay more productive.
3. Choose efficient modes of communication.
You don’t need to call an hour-long meeting every time you have an update. Emails are instant, written and permanent, and can be executed much faster than a phone call. Try and communicate as concise as possible, and you could save yourself hours a day.
4. Delegate.
There is nothing wrong with delegating. Most new entrepreneurs see their businesses as their baby, and they’re intimidated to let anyone else take control. As a result, they take on a lot of tasks they otherwise wouldn’t and end up overloaded. Save yourself a lot of time and be an effective ‘delegator’.
5. Focus on one thing at a time.
Multitasking is good, but can be distracting. Do not attempt to multitask, and let yourself get distracted by items that have newly arisen. Instead, focus on one item at a time, and don’t stray from it until it’s complete.
Awaken the Giant in You – S.A Teen Entrepreneur
SA Teen Entrepreneur, one of our clients hosted their annual breakfast session called “Awaken the Giant in You” this past weekend. The breakfast session, hosted at the Newlands Sun hotel on Saturday, 5 March 2016 was a huge success, that saw a great number of teenagers, parents and other business people in attendance. This awesome event left teenagers with a lot of courage to realize their full potential, which is the aim and purpose of Awaken the Giant in You.
One of the key speakers for the day, Riaan Fourie an artist developer, opened the event by sharing his entrepreneurial insights; with his talk titled “What I would have told myself half a lifetime ago.”
Another speaker, Kieno Kammies of Cape Talk 567’s weekday breakfast show, shared with us his entrepreneurial journey. He gave a thought-provoking presentation about the dreams of an entrepreneur and how to seize your future as a teenager.
The purpose of these breakfast sessions is to learn from Entrepreneurs who are successful and are keen to share their journeys and experience and to teach others the intricacies of Entrepreneurship.
Through these sessions, a message is sent to parents as well, to say, allow your kids to follow their passion and dreams, not yours.
3 pillars of building your business online
When you go into business, you need to ensure you build a unique and profitable brand market. Market your brand effectively and have online presence. Online presence is important for a business to grow.
Here are the 4 pillars of growing your business online:
1. Website
Have a great website. A great website should be able to convert browsers into buyers. It must connect to your audience instantly and build a relationship with them.
2. Marketing
Marketing is about bringing and sharing your services with the right audience. Your product will remain unknown and useless if you don’t market it properly, so market it!
3. Communication plan
Have a clear and effective communication plan. Videos, blogs, newsletters and emails will bring a steady stream of traffic your way. Communicate what you offer in a way that will make your audience say “I got to have that now!” Every business online needs to get traffic to it’s site, but profitable traffic is the most important.
4. Social Networks
Another way of increasing your online presence is to go the the social media route. Run ads through YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or other ad networks. Many businesses have done very well on these social network platforms.
BOB episode 18 – Financial Calendar
As you know, this month is finance month and we are speaking all things numbers.
One of the key tools to a successful business is to have a “Financial Calendar”. In case you are asking yourself what that is, a Financial Calendar is a 12-month accounting period for a company or organization. It is a list of all the key dates and deadlines that your company has to comply with.
There is a whole lot of key dates and deadlines that a lot of businesses forget or miss, and have cost them a lot of money in paying penalties and interests. So please know those key dates. Things like: VAT returns, Tax return, salary related issues – all those form part of a financial calendar.
It is best that you know all these dates to avoid paying penalties that you don’t even understand, or worse, to get your company de-registered. If you would like to know all about the important dates that your company should comply with, we will be talking about all of that in our finance workshop later on this week. To know more about the workshop please drop us an email on bruce@em-solutions.co.za or visit our website www.em-solutions.co.za
How to handle your finances as a start-up entrepreneur
In case you were not aware, March is termed the Financial Month, so we will be talking a lot on finances this month.
In this articles we would like to give you a few tips on how to handle your finances as a new entrepreneur. A good understanding and management of finances should be your priority when you start a business. Even if you decide to hire an accountant or bookkeeper to manage the books, you still need to familiarize yourself with basic bookkeeping and money management principles and activities.
Here are 4 tips on how to handle your finances if you have just started a business:
1. Open a bank account.
Once you have registered your business, you will need to open a commercial bank account. Start by selecting the bank you want to work with – a bank that will be small-business-friendly. It should be easy to open a bank account for your business, nothing complicated is required. The next step will be to deposit funds into your new account
2. Get a professional.
Accountants and financial advisers have always been trusted and respected helpers of small business owners everywhere. Their intimate knowledge of the profession as well as tax laws in their jurisdiction will save you money almost every time. The thought or temptation to do it yourself so you can save a buck or two will creep in sometimes, but it’s almost never more cost-efficient in the end. An accountant will almost always find more deductions and keep you penalty-free. Just make sure you have the cleanest records, and be more organized year-round. But when things get technical or taxes are due, save yourself the money, time and headaches and call in a trusted professional.
3. Accepting cash and online payment services.
In today’s competitive business world, you must provide customers with many ways to pay, including cash, debit card, credit card and electronic cash. There is a cost to provide these payment options – account fees, transaction fees, etc. So make sure to shop around for the best service with the best prices. Not all banks and payment processing services are the same, and fees vary widely, so do your research and compare prices.
Online payment services: PayPal is one of the most popular online payment services with more than 40 million members in 45 countries, offering personal and business account services.The advantages of online payment services are that they’re quick, easy and cheap to open and you can have the funds deposited directly into your account.
4. Establish payment terms and conditions.
Every small-business owner needs to establish a payment terms policy. You may want to standardize the way you get paid, at the same time you will also have to be flexible enough to meet clients’ needs on an individual basis. Setting payment terms covers deposits, progress payments and extending credit. It’s important to establish a clear, written payment terms with clients prior to providing services or delivering product. Your payment terms should be printed on your estimate forms, included in formal contracts and work orders, and printed on your final invoices and monthly account statements.