5 Time Sucks Every Solopreneur Should Automate
The biggest complaint I hear from clients is the lack of time to do all the necessary tasks of the business. The problem is that taking something off your plate means giving it to someone else and thus out of your personal control. How many times have you thought “if I have to explain it to someone else, I may as well do it myself?” With this logic though, you will eventually run out of time and more and more of these tasks will slip through the cracks. Ultimately, your business will be impacted.
Like any overwhelming task, thinking about it in incremental, bite size pieces will make it easier to start the process. Below are a few ideas:
1. Creating written content. Unless you write for a living, creating blogs, writing articles and crafting eloquent sales emails is a very daunting task. The good news is that there are several resources available that can help. The website DDIY.co compares several of the newest ones.
2. Scheduling meetings. Sick of those back and forth emails just to find a time to meet? There are several inexpensive, easy to use calendar apps that make life a whole lot easier. I use Calendly.
3. Automate your bookkeeping tasks. When you start a business as a Solopreneur, you may not be thinking about all the tasks related to your business cash flow. Once you start having business expenses and invoicing clients, all of a sudden it becomes more complicated and time consuming. Using an automated system like QuickBooks or FreshBooks helps to consolidate all your financial data. It saves the laborious task of getting everything together for Tax Day. You’ll also have an up to date view of your business financials in one place.
4. Outsource your social media. There are plenty of resources to help you with your creation and posting on social media. I suggest picking one or two channels and hiring someone to manage those for you. Social media needs to be nurtured. It’s not enough to just post it and forget it. A good social media manager is worth the investment. They’ll not only take the task off your hands, a skilled expert will more than pay for themselves within a year.
5. Administrative tasks. Managing your inbox is a business in and of itself. Hiring a Virtual Assistant to handle the mundane is well worth it. Yes, there’s a training period but a good VA and turn your business into a machine leaving you time to work on the things you love.
Hard as it may be to delegate, it’s part of the process. The good news is that your company is growing which is why this is so necessary. If you need some help figuring out the best way to approach streamlining your business, set up a call with me. I love to do what you hate!