Manage your time effectively for a better business

In this month’s Business Column, Business Support Specialist Heidi Green gives us her five top tips on making the most of your quieter times by reflecting on your business strategies.

When you’re a business owner, time can be more valuable than money. But how do you react when business goes quiet?  All businesses have peaks and troughs caused by seasonal trends and managing time effectively is key to ensure continuity of work.

It’s crucial to measure and reflect on the outcomes of our business strategies to see what works well and what doesn’t in order to enable continuity of activity and performance. Use quiet times effectively to take a step back and do this.

There are six tips below to help you manage your time better.
1. Review your business plan. Make sure it’s up to date and your strategy is helping you achieve your chosen goals. Keeping up to date with the contents of your business plan helps you to be pro-active in your business rather than reactive.

2. Re-engage with clients. If you don’t keep in regular contact make sure you plan a way to keep your profile in front of them. Devise newsletters and make sure you have an up-to-date reliable database. Sometimes just a phone call to make sure everything is going okay is appreciated by your clients. Even better, why not invite them for a coffee?

3. Self-development. Learn something new or go on a refresher training course to improve your skills. This can also be a good opportunity to network with like-minded people.  You never know where this could lead – collaborative working, referral or even perhaps a new customer?

4. Look for cost savings. When was the last time you really analysed your spending? Could you be paying too much for utilities? Is your networking giving you a return on investment? Increasing your bottom line is not just about increasing sales, it is also about saving money on your expenditure.

5. Review your marketing. You could perhaps make some changes to keep your website fresh. Consider whether you are you making the best use of social media.  Are you utilising testimonials from happy customers? Ask yourself whether your marketing and communication is relevant and engaging.

Business Support York & North Yorkshire has over 30 years experience helping businesses achieve their objective through the good times and the bad.