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“I think that maybe inslide any business, there is someone slowly going crazy.” - Joseph Heller

Create a Business System

There are many times that small business owners struggle to stay ahead of the game, constant battles with stacks of papers, phone calls to return, and pesky little things like making sure the accounting is being taken care of.

The answer to all this woe is systems. There are many business books that address time management, yet many small business owners struggle to find the time to read the book. Finding information is not the problem, finding ways to use information is. Here are three steps to taking control of the stacks of papers, mountains of calls, and never-ending streams of information that doesn’t matter.

Each stack of paper is created as a reminder that you have something to do. To get rid of the stacks, stop creating them. Only touch paper once and file it in a place that makes sense, this could be a tickler file system of the next date when you really need to address what is on that paper. Finally, just like when you were a kid and your mother told you to put your toys away, make sure that each evening your desk is clear and you have put away all the paper that you took out during the day.

Do what?!?! As you read the above you may have thought to yourself that in a dream world I would be able to do this, and in a dream day I can actually accomplish this, but then a busy day hits and everything is over, now I am shoving papers in any drawer that will hold them, I’m hiding stacks in the closet, and I am doing whatever I can to look as if I have it all together.

The reality of creating a system to deal with the stacks of paperwork that land on your desk any given day has to be made by you. You are the only person that can really determine the rules of the game. Take a day and really pay attention to how the stacks are created, find ways of not adding to the stack, each path the paper takes that is not to a stack is a success. Repeat until the stacks just seem to disappear. Notice when they do reappear, and they will, they are manageable because you have a system that can be refined.

Most small businesses owners could be on the phone all day. If it isn’t to build a relationship with a client, it is to speak with a supplier, or find out where a shipment of product is, the list goes on. It would seem that there is no longer any time left to do anything other than be on the phone. Then it happens, one day you run out of time and you still have a stack in front of you. The stack grows, the calls are not returned, and now you have clients that wonder why you weren’t as prompt as normal and vendors calling you multiple times.

Stop the madness and create a system. This system, just like the one for paperwork, is very personal. The first thing you need to ask yourself, “Is the call is important?” Could you be doing other activities that will generate more revenue? It seems so simple, yet it is not uncommon for business owners to think that all calls must be returned when in reality if you are a small business owner; your time is a precious commodity that needs to be leveraged to create the most revenue.

Customers are always important, always, always, always return their calls promptly. Why? The answer is simple, more revenue. Making sure that you always return customer calls does not mean that you should sacrifice your time.

Making a plan for that phone call is just as important as making the call itself. Make sure you know the purpose of the call, the information you will need is right in front of you, and the questions you need to ask already formed, preferably written down and in front of you. Making the phone call prepared will ensure that you are not wasting time fumbling for information, and maximizing the time you are speaking on the phone.

For vendors, sales staff, and other calls realize that they may not be made the same day they called. Find a day of the week that is slow and use that day to return the calls that are of a lower priority. This should alleviate the pressure of needing to return all the phone calls the same day, and also give you ideas of how to create the system to make sure that all the calls are returned within a reasonable amount of time.

Information that doesn’t matter is like junk mail at home. Small business owners can become buried in information. The snap decision is the best way of dealing with this problem. If you hold a piece of information decide if it is important, then decide if you know of a place to hold that information, finally realize that it is ok to let go of the information if it doesn’t fit right now.

For example, assume that you receive an invitation to an event that you don’t think you will attend. First, you have made the snap decision that the information is not really valuable, simply because you don’t plan on being there. Next decide if you have a place to keep this information, this may be in your datebook, Outlook, or any other means of tracking potential engagements. Finally, realize that you have captured the information and it is ok to let it go, so throw the actual invitation away.

Information comes in many forms; it can be electronic, paper, or even verbal. Finding how to sort through the information and store the important parts is vital to a small business surviving. The information system can be in the form of a database, or a filing cabinet, but whatever form it takes there should be a plan.

Find out what type of wood your desk is made out of, find that returning calls does not have to be done without a plan, and finally, find that your brain really doesn’t have to contain every scrap of information in order to be successful.

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