While each business owner has her own unique style, habits and characteristics, every business owner can benefit from improving her time management skills. Whether better time management helps an entrepreneur feel less overwhelmed or provides her with a stronger focus to move her company forward, it undoubtedly will contribute to her overall satisfaction.
Whether she’s a Jane Dough, a Go Jane Go, a Merry Jane, an Accidental Jane or a Tenacity Jane, every female entrepreneur can benefit from the following advice:
* Find an efficient, measurable marketing system. To determine whether a marketing system is efficient, a business owner must be able to measure it. Many computer-generated marketing systems provide software that tracks how often web site visitors buy, or how often someone performing a search ends up at a particular web site. By tracking those and similar metrics, business owners can determine whether their resources are well-spent. Also, the key to marketing efficiency is to ensure that her marketing message is clear and concise, and is directed at the right audience.
* Create a filter. If a businesswoman feels overwhelmed by her workload, she may consider creating a filter, through which all projects must pass before she takes them on. For example, if it’s important to a business owner that a project stretches her creativity, takes only a certain number of hours to complete, and fits in with her vacation schedule, she may decide to accept only projects that fit all 3 criteria. By doing so, she will improve her efficiency because she will be able to work smarter on projects she truly enjoys, rather than working harder on every project that comes her way.
* Set goals. Goals provide direction, so that a business owner focuses her time and energy on moving forward. This way, the time she spends on her business is effective and efficient – and productive.
* Park it. While not all entrepreneurs feel overwhelmed all of the time, an effective way to remain focused on the most important tasks at hand is to create a couple of ongoing lists of projects. The first should be a list of short-term or immediate projects, and it should be visible all the time. The second should be a list of longer-term projects, kept filed away and reviewed periodically. This way, a business owner doesn’t have to worry that she’ll forget about something important – it’s written down – and she always has a visible reminder of the timeliest projects.
* Document systems. By writing down every single step of every single system in her business, an entrepreneur can determine where she can streamline to increase efficiency. Such documentation will reveal obsolete or repetitive steps and it will also reduce training and learning time in the case of an employee transition.
Every woman business owner defines success differently; however, improved time management means more time to strive for success, however success is defined. While entrepreneurial and personal values vary from woman to woman, everyone can benefit from increased efficiency.
Interested in learning more about the five Jane types and which Jane you are? Check out www.janeoutofthebox.com
About the Author:
Michele DeKinder-Smith is the founder of Jane out of the Box, an online resource dedicated to the women entrepreneur community. Discover more incredibly useful information for running a small business by taking the FREE Jane Types Assessment at Jane out of the Box. Offering networking and marketing opportunities, key resources and mentorship from successful women in business, Jane Out of the Box is online at www.janeoutofthebox.com