Five Ways to Free Up More of Your Time as a Small Business Owner by Jennifer Janechek

Far too often, small business owners find themselves in a position where they are spending more time working in their business than on it. They aren’t able to expand or develop their organization because they are losing too much time to the day-to-day tasks that should be delegated to other employees. They miss important family experiences because they have not automated their business operations. They feel like they are chained to their organization, unable to enjoy the freedom that should come along with owning your own business. 

What if there were a better way? 

There is—but it requires you to systematize the functioning of your organization. Below are five ways to streamline your business practices so that you are able to enjoy more free time as a small business owner.

1. Scrutinize your personal and organizational mission.

Everyone who starts or takes over a business has a vision for the future of his or her company. But oftentimes this idea is abstract in nature and never gets ironed out. Or, the owner’s goal shifts over time, and the language of the organizational mission is never revised to reflect this change. Without both a clear personal mission and a concrete organizational mission, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the mundane details of daily tasks and not make the larger moves necessary to improve your company’s efficiency and profitability. Take the time to spell out—in as detailed terms as possible—your personal goals as a business owner and the vision, mission, values, and beliefs of your organization.

2. Regularly analyze your current operations in the context of your business environment.

It’s common business practice to conduct SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities, threats) analyses to monitor the performance of your company, though perhaps businesses conduct these less frequently than they should. And yet it’s easy to situate these analyses in the climate in which you started your business rather than the current business climate. Take the time to research the current environmental factors affecting your business so that your SWOT analyses give you accurate data about your company’s performance.

3. Establish make-or-break priorities and develop concrete plans for their implementation.

Make a list of the key issues affecting your business and then prioritize them. For the make-or-break priorities—those action items whose implementation or lack thereof will significantly impact your company’s operation—establish detailed plans for their realization and develop quantitative metrics for assessing the efficacy of these plans.

4. Dedicate time to hiring and developing the right employees.

The right employee in the right position can make all the difference in how a company (especially a small business) functions. To attract and retain the best talent, first outline the needs of your organization and then create positions based on these needs. Next, write detailed job descriptions (which should be periodically updated), determine the skill sets required, and then hire employees based on this data. Finally, structure plans for incentive compensation and employee development. Attention to individual development plans is especially important, as good employees will leave your organization if their talents are not encouraged and their growth not promoted. 

5. Create an outside board of advisors.

It can be difficult for the small business owner to identify his or her company’s needs and areas requiring attention. That’s why it’s important to have objective feedback, which is best provided by an outside board of advisors. Engaging a team of external advisors will help keep one’s company operating at optimum levels.

By implementing these changes, small business owners will make significant headway in systematizing their companies, with the end result being that they will free up more of their time to enjoy the fruits of their labor—within and outside of their organization.

For detailed advice about how best to approach these tasks, enroll in the WOW! Business Advisory e-learning course through Sound Wisdom Learning Academy. This online course will help you take your business to WOW! success by providing detailed instruction in the Five P System of Professional Management. Interested in the course but want to learn more before buying? Click here to claim your free e-book of Five P’s to a WOW! Business, which can be used on its own or in conjunction with the e-learning course.

Side Hustle Is the New Normal by Simon T. Bailey

All employees need to reconfigure their mindset to see themselves as self-employed employees. Corporations love talent, but they are no longer committed to keeping employees on the payroll for the sake of the good of the company. They’re now looking at how they can shave costs or increase their margins to grow a healthy bottom line. If that something means hiring the best talent that is available at the best time, for whatever length of time, they will do it. 

Companies are looking at everything they spend to drive revenue, and labor is one of the No. 1 expenses. With that in mind, employees have to begin to say: “If I’m going to thrive long term, I need to have a side hustle.” 

So the question becomes, how does one identify a side hustle? 

1. Ensure it does not conflict with the product or services being offered by your company. You should not be working for a company that directly takes away business from your existing 9-to-5 job. Number one, it’s not good business and is ethically questionable, and number two, if your company finds out about it, your full-time gig will be in danger. \

2. Think of ways to leverage your talent outside of your full-time job so that you can invest time after work and enjoy it. If you work 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. but you have an interest in starting a restaurant or playing in a band or doing medical billing, can you carve out additional hours to pour yourself into the thing you love most? 

3. Is there a temporary agency you can join that is looking for contract labor or freelancers? Some examples of what that looks like include Lyft, Uber, Airbnb, and Etsy. 

4. There are websites specifically dedicated to helping you find a side hustle. If you’re not sure where to start, you can check out Side Hustle Nation or Fiverr to get some ideas about what you can do with your existing skills. 

Side hustles are a great way to put a toe in the water if you’re thinking about leaving your full-time gig to do something else. You can test the waters before you make the full leap and determine how much you need to invest and what the long-term ramifications are without having to quit your job completely. Let a side hustle be your laboratory where you beta test future opportunities. 

Note that pursuing a side hustle doesn’t always mean you have one foot out the door. Your side hustle can help you build skills and knowledge that inform your existing position. 

For example, a friend of mine works a 9-to-5 job, but she is not able to exercise her writing skill set in that position. For her side gig, she writes articles for an outside company. The research that she does in order to write the articles is relevant to her 9-to-5 job and increases her knowledge for her full-time role. 

As the world of work continues to evolve and change, side hustles will become more the norm. 

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life