Developing new clients and orders; serving existing clients; handling finance and personnel, if you are like most growing business owners there seems to be a “to do” list that doesn’t have an end.

Regardless of whether you appropriate a monetary value to it or not, time is generally one of the most valuable commodities a small business owner has. Clearly, as a business owner you wear many hats (most if not all at times). How to prioritize your days will determine what gets done.  How to allocate your day is largely determined by what part of growth plan you are in and which fires are burning brightest. Clearly, customers and the ability to finance your products or services are always everyone’s top priorities. New clients take time to develop, and existing customers must be nourished. What generally always falls to the bottom of the list is the development of the “business of the business”.  Administrative, human resources, social and other media et. al, form the foundation of the structure you are building. The importance of time management planning cannot be overstated.

By a long shot, the most effective strategy for good time management is thorough planning. If a business owner can plan how they will utilize time in advance and then stick to the plan they have outlined (of course allowing some time for any unexpected developments), their business should be in a much stronger position to meet deadlines and deliver on their promises to customers. Failing to plan, as is the case with many situations, is likely planning for disaster.

When planning a schedule, a small business owner must be able to prioritize. Some tasks in your plan have more flexibility than others, it is important to identify those things that simply cannot wait and those which can be put on the “back-burner”. The owners job is to differentiate between these and put the most important tasks at the top of your priority list. That said, a business owner should also remember that the most urgent tasks are also not always the most important to the bigger picture, so it is important not to lose sight of the later.

Lastly, it is also very important for a business owner to understand the importance of task delegation. Many small business owners are of the belief that effective management is simply about entrepreneurs bearing the weight of the company on their shoulders. In reality, delegating the appropriate tasks to the right people both internally and externally, is a key to success and a foundational aspect of the role. When delegating it is important to remember that it is not simply about pawning work off to other people, it is about getting more done in a more efficient way ultimately leading the success of the business over the long-term.

TAP’s partners, unlike many other individuals within the small business advisory space, know what it is like to run a small business and manage their time accordingly. With our roll-up-our sleeves approach, we spend the time to understand your business and to help you implement time management processes and solutions specific to your situation. To learn more about how our team helps you know when to improve efficiencies, whom to hire when more human resources are needed, and applies our monetary and human resources to help you achieve your goals, please contact us here.