New Business Direction LLC
Time is a precious, valuable, and finite resource. We all have only twenty-four hours in a day and only seven days in a week to get everything done. And for entrepreneurs, that can often seem like barely enough.
So, why does it seem like some of us can get more done in a day than others? The answer could lie in a few possibilities:
- Are you doing what’s important or simply what seems to be the most urgent at the moment?
- Are you wasting time on tasks that should be delegated, automated, or ignored completely?
- Have you ever considered tracking what you spend your time on?
I was curious about how I really used my time, so I tracked my time and activities for one week. I uncovered valuable information regarding inefficiencies in my world and have been able to take steps to eliminate, automate, and delegate better. I encourage you to do the same, and this article should help you get a good start on reclaiming your time and working more productively.
Day 1: Establish the Habit of Time Tracking
- Begin your day by setting up a simple time-tracking system. Whether you prefer digital tools or the classic pen and paper, make a note of every task and its duration.
- Be honest about where you’re spending your time. This is a judgment-free zone, and having more accurate information here will only benefit you in the long run.
- Reflect on what’s driving your activities:
-
- Are you stuck in an endless loop of emails?
- Are you using your inbox as a to-do list?
- Are you wasting time on technology issues?
- Are you answering the same questions over and over from team members or customers?
Day 2-6: Document Your Activity, Reflect on Your Data, and Adjust Your Habits Accordingly
- Log your activities throughout each day, including breaks and interruptions.
- At the end of each day, reflect on the activities you tracked. What surprises you? What patterns emerge?
- Identify tasks that took longer than expected or seemed unproductive.
Day 7: Analyze Your Data and Strategize Improvements
- Compile your week’s data. Look for trends, time wasters, and areas (or times of day) where you were most productive.
- Categorize these activities into groups:
-
- Critical tasks – those that only you can do
- Enjoyable tasks – Those that you really like to do
- Delegate-able tasks – Things that you could outsource or delegate to your team
- Automatable tasks – recurring activities that could be completed more efficiently with technology
- Useless tasks – activities with minimal impact that could be eliminated; you’re only doing them because you’ve always done them, and practice makes permanent
Next steps: Delegate and Automate
- Pinpoint tasks that could be delegated to your capable team members, or outsourced to a vendor. Empower your team members, entrust them with responsibilities, and create standard operating procedures on how these tasks should be done to your specifications. Even if it feels like training your team will only make the process take longer, in the long-term, delegating tasks to your team will free up your time for strategic decision-making activities.
- Research opportunities to automate repetitive tasks and leverage technology to save time and reduce errors.
- Be open to the possibility that certain tasks may not be adding significant value and consider eliminating or outsourcing them to focus on what activities will have the greatest impact on your business.
Starting 2024 off on the right foot
This exercise may seem simple but its impact can be profound. Its purpose goes beyond increasing efficiency – it’s about creating a business that thrives on your unique strengths.
By gaining insight into how you allocate your time, you’ll be able to identify areas for improvement, empower your team to take on more responsibility, and free up valuable time for more rewarding and impactful activities.
Time is your most valuable asset, and by mastering the art of effective time management, you can unlock doors to unparalleled productivity and success. I look forward to hearing about your time-tracking experience and findings in our next coaching session.
Regards,
Rhonda Rosand, CPA
CEO, New Business Directions
Running a business can feel like a whirlwind of responsibilities! Time is a precious resource for entrepreneurs, and taking shortcuts can be tempting. However, there’s one shortcut we really recommend against: sharing sensitive documents like bank statements, financial reports, tax forms, and more over email.
When safeguarding your valuable information (and that of your customers!), prioritizing security is essential. With cyber threats constantly evolving, email is an increasingly vulnerable method for transmitting confidential data. How should you be sharing your sensitive documents instead? By embracing secure document-sharing portals.
Document-sharing portals like SmartVault employ state-of-the-art encryption techniques to prevent bad actors from accessing your information. They can streamline your workflows, save time, and reduce errors. Most have user-friendly, intuitive interfaces, too, making it easy for you and your team to implement the new tech successfully.
Portals don’t just benefit you and your business, however! They can benefit your customer relationships, too. Adopting a portal can demonstrate a commitment to protecting your customers’ data, safeguard your reputation, and help you comply with data protection regulations.
While attaching a file to an email may feel more convenient in the moment, the tradeoff could be catastrophic. Instead, by taking an extra step to secure your documents, you’re investing in the long-term success of your business. We, as accountants, cannot overstate the importance of robust data security, and we encourage you to embrace the convenience and peace of mind that secure document-sharing portals provide!
The Critical Link Between Time Tracking and Labor Costs
Keeping track of how you and your workers spend time is one of the most important things you can do in your business. Labor costs can be a large portion of expenses, and understanding how time is spent can help you manage your business better in a multitude of ways. We touched on labor costs in our recent article, “Breaking Down Direct and Indirect Costs,” and wanted to share more on the topic. Keep reading to learn more.
Benefits of Time Tracking
There are plenty of reasons to track time, some of which we’ve listed below:
- When pricing by the hour, time tracking is mandatory; without it, you won’t be able to invoice your clients accurately.
- Documenting time spent on specific projects helps managers understand how long a task should take, when employees could benefit from training, and where processes and procedures may need improving.
- Project management systems allow users to import detailed time reports, which allows businesses to create more accurate fixed-fee pricing estimates on future jobs and customer proposals.
- For construction companies, time tracking feeds into job costing.
- For manufacturing businesses, time tracking feeds into labor reports.
- For hourly workers, time tracking is used in payroll systems so they can be paid accurately.
- Time tracking can increase accountability among team members as they become more aware of how they spend their working time.
- When time is budgeted in advance, actual hours worked can be compared to see how the budget is used and whether it was too much or too little.
- Time tracking allows managers and business owners to determine when they need to hire additional staff because the backlog has become too large.
What Is Time Tracking?
Time tracking is the recording of how you spend your time. You can use paper, a spreadsheet, or time tracking software like QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) to log the task you are working on and the length of time you worked on it. For example, here’s a simplistic example of a spreadsheet time log, aka timesheet, for one day:
Employees may be required to complete timesheets on a daily or weekly basis, which are then turned into their managers and payroll administrators.
Managers can take time tracking to the next level by adding hourly payroll costs as well as the employee’s hourly billing rate to gain insight into further time-tracking financial metrics.
Time Tracking Software
There are many different types of time-tracking software:
- A time clock allows employees to “punch in” when they arrive for work and “punch out” when they leave. This type of machine is mostly used for payroll in a manufacturing setting.
- Time tracking applications like QuickBooks Time allow workers with computers and smartphones to enter their time via the application. Features like biometric time clocks (i.e., requiring a thumbprint to verify the correct individual is clocking in) and geofencing (allowing employees to only clock in from certain locations) can reduce employee time theft.
- Some companies will have their time tracking function embedded into their project management, job costing, or billing system. Employees would then enter their time via those applications.
Getting Employees on Board with Time Tracking
Reporting your hours in a time-tracking system is one of the least favorite tasks of employees and requires managers to spend more time shaping their mindsets and attitudes than any software training. It’s important that employees feel that your policies don’t resemble “Big Brother” when using their time data.
For best results, let employees know how the timesheet data will be used. Allay their fears that they will not get fired or in trouble if they feel something “took too long,” which can often translate into an employee “fudging” their hours on a task where they might have made a mistake. Make sure they know they won’t be penalized in any way for what they report. In other words, remove the risk of penalty for recording their time data accurately.
Communication is key in getting employees to report their time accurately so that managers and owners can receive meaningful information. Have managers tie time tracking to an employee’s personal career goals to increase adoption and reduce resistance.
Personal Time Tracking
Time is our most precious commodity, and tracking your personal time can give you insights into how you are investing in yourself. Some really interesting questions can be considered when you have some time data for yourself.
- How much “downtime” do you need each day in order to live a productive and healthy life?
- How much time are you spending on your goals?
- Are you spending time on what you consider to be important?
Getting Started with Time Tracking
If you’re considering time tracking or would like to take your current time-tracking function to the next level, please contact us [here]. We may be able to help with integration, implementation, the accounting aspect of time-tracking, and financial metrics and reports.
Year-end is the perfect time to reflect on accomplishments achieved and lessons learned over the past year. It’s also an important time to put things into perspective as we turn the page and start a new year.
What We’ve Learned
With so much change in 2020, the opportunities to learn have been abundant. Take a moment and contemplate the following:
- What new skills did you learn this year?
- What topics did you become wiser about?
- What situations have you learned to master?
Goals Met
If you set goals for 2020, which ones did you achieve? Because it was a volatile year, you may have achieved a lot of things that were not planned. Or you may have simply maintained status quo, which is an amazing accomplishment in 2020. Give yourself credit for that.
As we transition to 2021, set new goals to be achieved in your business and personal lives and record the list so you can look back periodically to monitor your progress.
Gaining Perspective
Gain perspective by reflecting and asking yourself these questions:
- What kind of person do I want to be in 2021?
- How do I see myself in five years?
- What can I contribute?
Reflect, plan, and gain perspective as we usher in 2021. And have a Happy New Year!
Now, more than ever before, the act of listening is important. The power of listening—effective listening—will help you get more information from customers, increase their trust and commitment in you, and reduce conflict and misunderstanding.
What It Means to Listen
It is important to point out that the act of listening and actually comprehending what a person is saying can lead to strong, healthy, and thriving relationships—all very important qualities in any type of relationships, specifically a business one.
If you don’t believe us, think about the last time you were having a conversation with someone and felt as if you weren’t being heard. How did that make you feel? How did that affect the relationship? Did it make you feel valued?
According to Dr. Carl Rogers, a psychologist, active listening is a specific communication skill. Giving free and undivided attention to a speaker through active listening is the most effective way to achieve individual change and group development.
Tips on Becoming a Better Listener
If you truly want to become a better listener, then consider implementing these tips into your daily life.
- Understand the Benefits
First, it’s imperative to understand that listening to someone is beneficial to both the person doing the talking and you. Nothing bad or negative comes from listening to another person speak, but the complete opposite. Remember, if you thoroughly listen to an individual, it’s more likely that same individual will listen to you when it becomes your turn to speak. The partnership the two of you are hoping to grow can only be successful with mutual listening.
- Make Eye Contact
Next, when someone is speaking to you, always make eye contact. This tactic not only shows respect, but it will also help you focus on the other person’s words, what he or she is saying and how they feel.
- No Distractions
When sharing a conversation with someone, make sure there are no distractions. Obviously, this means you need to put down your phone and give the speaker your full attention. Don’t worry about what’s going on around you; don’t think about your next meeting or what you plan to have for lunch. Listen, engage, and show the person talking that you care.
- Ask Questions
One of the best ways to show the speaker that you are really listening to them, is to ask them questions. Make sure you fully understand what they’re saying by verifying their wants, needs, and/or concerns with specific questions.
Remember, nothing bad comes from listening—only good. The next time someone is speaking, consider opening up your eyes, ears, and mind just a little bit more. In doing so, you will gain the full benefits of the power of listening.
It goes without saying that 2020 has been quite the year—and it’s not even over yet! Of course, any one of us could easily come up with a long list of every bad occurrence that has taken place since March due to the pandemic. Being grateful can be challenging during times of hardship, and we want to help you achieve the feat.
Below, we’ve put together different techniques to help you see that there are many things to be grateful for, both in our business and personal lives. This is a great time of year – just before Thanksgiving – to stop and practice gratitude.
What Are You Grateful For?
The act of being grateful can lead to experiencing positive emotions. As a matter of fact, if you are experiencing negative emotions and don’t want to, the fastest way to “reset” your physiology is to start thinking of things you are grateful for.
Here are some ideas to help get you started:
Your Health
Health comes in many various forms; the idea of being healthy can mean something entirely different to two people. Consider what being healthy means to you, and then, if you do think you have your health, try and be grateful for it.
One good thing about the pandemic is that most people are eating more healthful, home-cooked meals and less fast food, and they are feeling better with more energy. People are also watching their weight and even losing excess pounds, especially after some of the initial reports that overweight people were having a harder time fighting Covid-19 than slimmer people.
Friends and Family
Are you surrounded by loved ones? Now, more than ever before, it’s important to be grateful for people who are in your life. You may be facing hardships but think how much more difficult times would be if you were dealing with them by yourself. Be grateful for having someone in your life that you can lean on.
Work and Business
So many people have lost their jobs, their income, their sense of security. If you still have work or your business to keep you busy, focused, and earning a steady paycheck, be grateful. It’s a wonderful exercise to express your gratitude to your customers, coworkers, or employer by writing them a thank you note or leaving them a review on Google My Business, Yelp, their Facebook business page, or their LinkedIn profile as a recommendation.
Similarly, it’s the perfect time of year to ask your customers or employer to leave you a review on one of these digital assets.
Never Stop Being Grateful
Of course, there are plenty of other things to be grateful for in this world; everyone’s list will look different. Perhaps you’re grateful for a pet or something you’ve achieved. Maybe the fact that you have a special skillset or the ability to be patient and understanding during trying times gives you reason to smile.
That’s the thing about being grateful: there is nothing too big or too small to be grateful for; no right or wrong answer. And while it may feel more difficult this year compared to others, you can always find something when you look hard enough.
Regardless of the type of relationship—personal, professional, or even acquaintance—communication is key. Communication is particularly necessary when it comes to customers and building a successful business. It’s even more important this year since many businesses have gone through so many changes. This article will help you achieve better customer communication.
Are You Communicating Properly?
Effective communication helps to ensure your product or service meets the customer’s needs and satisfaction. By meeting these needs and satisfaction, you are potentially generating repeat business. Start by figuring out what your customers are thinking and what questions they might have about your business.
Congratulate yourself if you’ve sent emails or posted notices on your website that answer the following questions:
- Have your hours changed?
- Has your location changed?
- Can you handle drop-in service?
- If so, is there a protocol? For example, do customers call a number when they get to your locked door? Will you be taking their temperature? Is a mask required?
- Is your business by appointment only?
- Then, how do customers make an appointment?
- Do you require a covid-19 test before an appointment can be made?
- Are there special accommodations for at-risk groups?
- Has your contact information changed? With people working at home, phone numbers may have changed.
- Have your services changed?
- Do you deliver?
- Do you offer curbside pick-up?
And this is just pandemic-related. You may have launched new products or services, changed prices, added staff, and implemented many more actions that customers should know about.
Tips on Effective Communicating
Here are some foundational reminders about communicating in business.
Connection
Communication starts with a connection. To give the customer what they want, you have to connect with them. If you can connect on a personal level, even better. Regardless, you need to convey to the customers that they—as well as their wants and needs—are important.
Listen
Listen to your customer—and listen well. Depending on the customer’s communication, you may have to ask very specific questions to better understand what they want or need. However, intently listening to your customers will allow you to form a better relationship with them.
Not only that, but you can get some great ideas for how to improve or create new products and services so that you fulfill even more of your customers’ wants and needs.
Understand
Now that you’re connecting and listening to you customer, make sure you understand them. If you don’t understand what they’re saying, ask them to clarify. This isn’t a guessing game, but a two-sided relationship. To give the customer what they want or need, you must understand what it is they are asking for.
Transparency
Be completely transparent with your customer. You cannot earn a customer’s trust or loyalty—or repeat business—if you aren’t one hundred percent honest with them. Tell the customer exactly what you can do for them; don’t promise something you can’t deliver.
Deliver
Make sure you can—and do—deliver exactly what your customer is expecting from you. If you promise to deliver something, whether it’s a service, product, or result, then you need to keep your word. In doing so, you will be laying the brickwork for a successful, long-term relationship.
Communication is one of—if not—the most important skill to have when it comes to connecting with your customers. After all, happy customers will come back.
Hiring a new employee is a big accomplishment in any small business, and there are a lot of steps involved, too. Here’s a handy checklist to help you stay organized when you bring that new hire on board.
First things first, the legal and accounting items:
- Signed employment agreement, typically an offer letter. There may also be a supplemental agreement outlining employee policies.
- Payroll documents include:
- IRS form W-4
- Form I-9
- Copy of employee’s government-issued ID
- Most states require a new hire report to be filed; sometimes your payroll system vendor will automatically file this for you.
- Notify your workers comp insurance carrier.
Next, it’s time for employee benefits enrollment:
- Health insurance
- 401K
- Any other benefits you provide
- Provide the employee with the holiday schedule
- Explain their PTO and vacation if not already explained in the offer letter
Set your new employee up for success with the right equipment:
- Desk, chair, lamp, other furniture
- Uniform
- Tools
- Coffee mug, refrigerator shelf
- Phone
- Truck, keys
- Computer, monitor, mouse, keyboard, power strip, floor mat
- Office keys, card entry, gate remote, parking assignment
- Filing cabinet, keys
- Tablet
- Forms
- Office supplies
- Cooler, other supplies
Your new employee may need access to your computer software systems:
- Employee email address
- Any new user IDs and password for all the systems they will need to access
- Document access
How will your new employee learn the ropes?
- Set up training
- Assign a buddy
Hopefully, this list will give you a start toward making your employee onboarding process a little smoother.
How well do you love the way you spend your typical workday? What would a typical workday look like if you had absolutely no constraints? Here’s a fun exercise to get you thinking about your future and how you can make small changes in your current day to move it toward your ideal day.
Get comfortable and begin jotting out what your ideal day looks like. Start with what you do before you get to work. How do you start your day? With a workout or breakfast or something else? What does breakfast consist of? Where are you eating? What do your surroundings look like?
How do you get to work? What is your commute like? List the sights, sounds, smells. Once you get to work, what do you do first? Will you spend time on the phone? With whom? At the computer? Do you go somewhere?
Do you get a nice break for lunch? Write it all down in detail, and continue until your post-workday routine. Who are you with? Where are you? What do you do?
Here’s a partial sample:
“Lunch with my two friends at our favorite Mexican restaurant on the beach. We laugh a lot, share stories, and part with hugs and handshakes. After lunch, I work on my favorite work project, which challenges me to think about how to help my employees gain new skills. While I work, I listen to my favorite music CD. In a few hours, I am ready for a stretch break and walk outside to water the plants. After break, I return calls, talking with my clients and catching up on how to best serve them. …”
OK, now it’s your turn. Here are some questions to consider while you do this exercise:
- What’s important to you to spend time on?
- What’s enjoyable that you would really like to have as part of your daily routine?
- What activities will give you a nice balance of accomplishment, relaxation, and socialization, even during work?
- What do you need to include in your ideal day to get your needs met?
Change One Thing
Getting to your ideal day can take time. Don’t try to change your whole routine all at once. What one or two things can you pull out of your ideal work day description that you could bring into your current work day to brighten it with happiness? In the description above, this person might block out time to find employee training, go out for lunch instead of eating at her desk, make a new playlist, delegate tasks that are not part of her ideal day, or take more time when returning client calls.
Make gradual changes in your current day to improve it. With each change, you’ll be moving toward the realization of your ideal day. And if your ideal day doesn’t include bookkeeping but your current day still does, we’re here for you.
If you feel like you spend too much time on email, you’re not alone. Almost everyone feels the same way. That’s why it’s so important to learn how to be as productive as possible when it comes to handling email. Here are five tips to help you do just that.
1- Automate your emails.
If you’re sending a lot of the same emails to clients, you may be able to add them to email list management software like Constant Contact or MailChimp. Then you can automate a series of emails using the autoresponder function.
Another way to automate your emails is to set up inbox rules so that certain emails are automatically filed into the folders you’ve set up. For example, if you get a monthly email for a recurring bill payment, you could send it straight to your bills folder if you don’t want to read it. This will save time in the morning when you sort through the pile of email that’s sent overnight.
2- Set a timer.
Make a habit of checking your email only once or twice in the day. Plan those times on your calendar and set a timer to stop if you need to. This employs time batching, one of the most productive ideas in time management. It’s unproductive to stop and read each email exactly as it comes into your box, so setting times restructures the way you work with email for the better.
3- Create draft email answers of your ten most frequently asked questions.
Do you get a lot of the same questions over and over again in your email? Don’t start from scratch each time you craft an answer. Start with a draft of a previous answer, make it generic, and save it in your drafts folder. When you get that question again, copy and paste the draft and customize it as necessary.
Repeat this for your top ten (or twenty) most-asked questions or emails that you send. You’ll shave minutes off each email reply from now on.
4- Learn the email software you’re using.
Sure, everyone pretty much knows how to send, reply to, and forward emails. Most even know how to add attachments. But what else do you know and use on a regular basis?
If you are tech-savvy, then simply spend some time reviewing your email settings and functions. There may be some you discover that will make your day.
If you don’t feel very comfortable with all things technical, then sign up for a formal course, preferably in person, where you have a real human teacher that can answer all your questions. It will be a day well spent.
5- Set up folders.
Folders, labels, or categories in your email software are all good ways to segment email so that it can be processed in a particular order. Your folders might be by priority, client, service type, or something else. In any case, it’s easier on your brain to answer all questions from one client or topic at a time than it is to ping-pong back and forth.
Use folders when you are complete with an email but want to save it for future reference. That way, your inbox will stay cleaner and emptier.
6- Use the search function.
Using the search function liberally in your email software when you need to find an old email will help you save tons of time.
7- Get a new email address if your current email address is too spammy.
You may be losing the spam battle with email addresses that have been used for more than a few years or that have been hacked. If so, the best solution might just be to switch to a new email.
Choose a good email address in the first place by staying away from email addresses that hackers can guess, like webmaster@yourdomain.com, sales@yourdomain.com, or info@yourdomain.com. Instead, use service@yourdomain.com or a version of your first and last names.
8- Unsubscribe. Unsubscribe. Unsubscribe.
Try these email productivity tips to help you spend less time on email while still getting the job done.
