Save time to grow your business

When I ask business owners what the one biggest challenge is in their business right now – I can guarantee you that 9 out of 10 will say time! There just are not enough hours in the day to do everything that they need to do.

When you also think about life in general too, we have access to so many things that will save us time. If we want to get from destination A to B, we can buy a car that will enable us to do this quicker. If we want our food cooked quicker, we can buy a microwave. And if we want some shopping we don’t even need to go shopping anymore – we can do it online.

No matter how driven, focused, or hard-working you are, it is easy to lose track of time during a hectic workday.

As experts we know that business owners know this feeling all too well. Even during lockdown, with more time available (less travelling, meeting online), there is still not enough hours in the day. To be productive and use your time wisely, we recommend tweaking your routine and utilise time-saving tips.
Here are some issues we have helped our clients with recently – sound familiar?

• I am constantly working in my business on client work. I have no time for business development and managing the sales pipeline. How will I ever be able to grow a sustainable business?
• I outsource work to different specialists like VA’s and Tech VA’s, they do the transactional work I need them to. There is nobody to help me strategically join up all the dots and operationalise my business
• My plan is to grow the business though I am trying to do everything myself. Its just not possible to spin all the plates, I have even taken to taking proposals on holiday! How is it possible to do everything?
• We are now not able to work in the office, it must be done virtually. We have never operated like this before, how can we make this work? We just don’t have the systems and processes in place to operate in this way.
• I need to outsource some of the more transactional elements in my business though I don’t know how. I have big ambitions and I need to make this work for me and my family.

With this in mind, we wanted to share a story of how we helped one of our clients save time and free up capacity. Its much more important now people generally have had the opportunity to spend more time at home with the family, doing the things they love. Its critical that we help give them time back so they can look after themselves and become a healthy workaholic rather than an unhealthy one.

We were recently contacted by an independent property consultant who had ambitions to grow her business. With relationship building and communication being an integral part of her business she just did not have enough time to do everything. In one hand she needed to attract and nurture potential clients and in the other she had to carry out viewings and getting sales. Plus, she had additional ideas for how she could start going the extra mile. It was the same old story, just not enough hours in the day.

After a consultation with Wendy Johnstone Ltd, we shared the benefit of outsourcing to free up her time. With the right outsourcing partner this could be just the solution she needed. We listened to her concerns and recognised the need to take it at her pace. We advised her that and efficient VA would be able to take care of the transactional tasks that she was explaining to us. We suggested the first step would be for her to create a job description for the work that she needed to do. Not just for the immediate work but for the work that would help the buiness to grow. If she was going to outsource she needed to protect the role for the future.

Its never a quick process, we know this takes time to build trust and a relationship. Three months after our initial conversation the client came back with her Job description. We explained that after training a new VA, we could also support with creating operational processes and identify areas for improvement and automation.

After many conversations it was agreed that her time was best spent growing the business which would earn her more income. By placing a VA to do all the tasks she was having to do,
we could help her build the operational foundations for her business to grow. We provided her with time and capacity initially, which commercially was the right decision. Now we are looking at her processes and how we can save more time whilst ensuring her clients get the best service.

Sometimes the best way to save time is to outsource to gain some additional capacity. As experts our role at Wendy Johnstone Ltd is to be patient and support our clients through the journey of transition. We understand its tough knowing who to trust and to start letting things go that’s why our Virtual Operations Managers are here to help. We understand your business is your baby and we want to help you to protect it.

If you are interested in practical time saving tips that can be used in your business, why not take a look at our recent blog.