Whilst many people wake after New Year’s Eve and then make their pledges for change, now is actually the perfect time to start taking those initial steps to enable your business to hit the ground running when the new year arrives.
Before gearing up for strategic growth, it is essential to first declutter. Almost all small business owners are guilty of wasting time on the same fruitless tasks each month, promising to make changes for next month but then not getting around to it. Many are also guilty of picking up customers that don’t meet the business goals and just absorb time and resources and distracts them from real success.
The exercise of shedding what is no longer serving your business, enhances clarity, frees up valuable hours in your day and realigns your goals.
After the declutter is complete, systemising your business is crucial to growth and scalability in 2020 and beyond!
10 Ways to Declutter Your Small Business
Here are some initial ways you can start to clear the path for next year.
(1) Highlight any customers that take up exponential amounts of your time, those that are rude to you or your staff and those that continually quibble with your rates. Consider if these types of customer are aligned with your business ethics and goals.
(2) Highlight any customers that are consistently late payers. Consider if they are the type of customer you want to deal with.
(3) Unsubscribe to emails that frequently eat up your inbox that don’t bring any added value to your business. Alternatively, set up rules in your email account, or use a new email account, for all mail of this nature so you can dip in and out when suits you.
(4) Make a list of all the tasks you personally do each month that you know could be done more efficiently if you took the time to adopt a new system, or (properly) delegated the task to someone else.
(5) Clear out your Bookmarks, Favourites and Reading Lists with anything that is now obsolete or no longer of interest. Consider adding new Bookmarks for your most visited sites and good reference sources, for quick access.
(6) Go through your calendar and remove old notifications that could be distracting. Instead, set up new meaningful reminders that will enhance productivity.
(7) Declutter your workspace. It mustn’t be under-estimated the importance of having a clear desk for a clear mind! Buy new stationary, organisers, a shredder and such that will enable you to keep your working environment effortlessly organised.
(8) Remove yourself from social media groups that are no longer relevant, or bring no value to your business.
(9) Cancel any subscriptions that you are paying for but don’t fully utilise. Consider new subscriptions that would help you be more efficient in your business operations and marketing.
(10) Last but not least, declutter your mind. If you always have thoughts and ideas floating around, you need to first get them out into a manageable list. It is only with a clear mind that you will be able to see goals with more clarity and set actions more objectively.
Less is the new More
Too many small business owners attempt (and often fail) to scale-up their business by doing more; chasing more new customers, creating more social media posts, reporting on more KPIs, adding more projects to the already full agenda, filling their to-do lists with more and more unimportant tasks…
Does this sound familiar? In fact, all this does is keep you and your team busy and distracted.
By cutting away the chaff from the wheat, you can view and manage your business in a different way.
These four “less is more” concepts can help your business grow faster and more sustainably next year.
Clarity
First get clear on your business goals, business ethics, values and target audience.
It is a classic mistake of small businesses to take on customers that do not serve their own business model. This includes:
- poor-payers that put pressure on cash-flow.
- customers that push excessively for discounts, undermining the value of your work and leaving your business out of pocket and under resourced.
- customers that are outside your niche area of expertise; it is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.
- customers that are friends or family who expect the unachievable!
Also, your customers will have a specific set of expectations. Don’t make the mistake of channelling your time and resources into something they don’t see as valuable.
Have you profiled your ideal customer? And do you fully understand who you serve and what they actually want to buy from your business?
Focus
Focus requires there to be greater attention but on less tasks and projects. It involves narrowing your attention, time and resources on the fewer things that are likely to make the biggest impact.
This is generally the only way a business can successfully and sustainably grow. However, many business owners find the process of letting go one of the hardest tasks.
What could your business let go of, so you can focus more in 2020 on the important things?
Execution
By finding clarity and adopting focus, executing projects and tasks becomes much easier. Finding time in your day to work towards your goals without distractions means that real progress can be seen relatively quickly.
Essentially, you don’t grow your business by doing more, you allow for scalability by doing more of “less”!
Do you know those sweet-spot activities that bring you the most revenue, for the least resources and attract the most valuable customers?
Systemisation
Systems and processes are absolute key for effective execution. It is therefore vital to create a system and process for everything you do. This means that each and every task can be performed consistently. Also, delegation is easier and more effective.
Systems and processes may include:
- Brand guidelines – so that everyone has access to your brand values and understands how to use your brand.
- Office manual and Help Sheets – so anyone in your team can find notes on how a task is carried out.
- Job roles – to outline who does what and who covers who.
- Project plans – so that recurring projects are consistently planned and executed.
- New customer on-boarding process – so all new customers are treated in the same great way!
This concept of creating systems and processes for your business means less duplication, significant time savings and a consistent approach for your customers, which instils trust and loyalty.
Every time you perform any task, think to yourself, “Could I systemise this? Could I make a document / process that informs others how to also do this task in the same way? How can I save myself time when I next come to do this task?”
Key points and next steps
- Spend time before the new year, decluttering your business and your mind!
- Consider adopting a “Less is More” approach to your 2020 business goals. This requires first clarity and focus, which will no doubt mean some changes to your current way of working.
- Find those sweet-spot services that make a real difference to your income and profits.
- Systemise everything in your business so that projects and tasks can be streamlined, delegated and take less time.
Best of luck – you know where we are if you need anything!
