Category: Procedures

If you’re a small business owner, it might seem an extravagant luxury to outsource your admin. The thought of someone else filing your receipts, invoicing your day’s work or chasing a payment, might feel too small to warrant delegating to someone else.

You might feel you can do it better, or it just takes five minutes, they’ll make a mistake, it’ll take longer to explain, or think you can’t afford it right now. These comments are extremely common, but the reality is unless you’re superhuman, you can’t do it all by yourself forever.

There comes a point when it genuinely makes more sense to outsource the admin tasks than to persevere doing everything yourself. That mountain of paperwork can disappear off your desk. All those receipts you’ve stuffed in a box can be organised neatly by name and by date. You don’t need to worry about picking up the phone to chase for a late payment because it’s all done for you.

Warning Signs

From speaking with clients there are some common warning signs that the overload of admin is stifling the growth of their business. If you identify with any of these then outsourcing some of your admin tasks is definitely worth considering.

• Have you missed meeting friends because you’ve needed to catch up with your paperwork?
• Do you stay up late answering emails, sending out quotes, or doing your accounts?
• Has your partner commented that you’re always working and they don’t see you as much as they would like?
• Do you feel stressed about how much paperwork your business seems to need?

Left unchecked, these warning signs can escalate into bigger problems which can go on to affect your health and wellbeing and give concern to your family and those who care about you. This is the reason why it’s important to make your time count. If you can outsource your admin, you’ll find you do have more time to spend on the things you want to do.

So, my question to you is simple:

Will outsourcing your admin help your business grow?

For many people the answer is yes! I have been helping Steven Wade from Full Moon Coaching with some of his admin tasks over the last few months and he has seen some amazing results.

Example

Steven came to me saying he’d been working hard with clients to the point where he didn’t have the time to keep on top of his admin and it had built up to a mountain of receipts and a jumble of paperwork which needed sorting. He knew the end of the tax year was coming and told me he’d been dragging his feet.

“Rachael told me to ‘eat that frog’. I needed to bite the bullet and get something done about my paperwork. I know I can earn more in the time not organising and typing up the receipts than if I was to do this myself. Rachael is professional and organised. She takes the pressure off and gets the job done.” – Steven Wade, Full Moon Coaching.

Steven gave me a huge box of unorganised receipts. There were receipts for business and personal expenses to separate and receipts dating back several months where nothing had been done with them since the items had been purchased.

To enable Steven to focus on his business I separated the business and personal receipts and organised them by date and supplier into clearly labelled folders for easy accessibility. This seemingly small task made his tax return and end of year accounts much easier. It also gave Steven an easy way to add new receipts into the folders to keep things simpler going forward.

Outcome

“With Rachael’s help, the new system is efficient and manageable. It’s a huge weight off my shoulders knowing the background jobs are getting done. I can focus on my clients, meeting people and running my business.” – Steven Wade, Full Moon Coaching.

I enjoy restoring order to admin chaos and believe it’s possible to turn the most disorganised of filing systems into smart, efficient, easy to use systems which will increase your productivity. It will certainly save time at the end of the tax year knowing your receipts and expenses are available at the click of a button.

It can also help with the smooth running of your business if your daily, weekly and monthly expenses are available in graphs and charts to predict your outgoings and cashflow. When using my services, I can promise you confidentiality, accuracy and honest suggestions for improvement.

If, like Steven, you have piles of receipts that need sorting, or any admin headaches you would like cured, please get in touch on 07756 772950 or visit getfocus.guru and I will be happy to help.

There’s the saying, “if it wasn’t for the last minute, nothing would ever get done”, and I wonder how many of us rely on that “last minute” every day.

If you’re honest with yourself, are you guilty of racing around? Are you desperately trying to finish the tasks you could have done, or should have done, earlier in the day? Do you rely on the “last minute” before meeting a deadline?

Perhaps you genuinely have taken on too much. If your diary is crammed full of client meetings during the day, then school-runs, after school clubs, evening socials, networking and other activities, maybe there isn’t enough time to do everything. Maybe you need that “last minute”.

But if you constantly use the “last minute” you’re not allowing time for anything to go wrong. There’s no safety buffer for unexpected delays, hold-ups or problems. If you rely on those extra sixty seconds too many times, you could find yourself under extra stress and extra pressure and the potential for making mistakes increases.

But it’s not all bad news.

I work with clients on a practical level. I can’t add hours to the day, but I can show you in three steps how to streamline your everyday tasks and processes to use your time twice. I can help you prioritise your tasks, so you’re on top of things. You won’t need the “last minute” because everything has been done in an organised, manageable and stress-free way.

The Three Steps:

• Your Goals – Chatting through the tasks you want to achieve.
• Your Time – Analysing how you currently spend your time.
• Your Tools – Implementing the solutions to make your life easier.

One of the key benefits of working with me is the accountability I offer. When setting out your goals, I become your accountability partner. I am someone impartial who knows what you want to achieve and keeps you on track on your journey.

An example of this is helping a client find the equivalent of an extra two working days in the month with the time he saved by making one simple lifestyle change. That’s right, two whole days each month have been recovered!

Does this sound hard to believe?

He thought so.

But through chatting with me, initially by phone, then face to face, we broke down his task into micro-components. When each component was written down it became obvious where time could be saved.

Then, when he added up how much time this task was taking, it totalled 1.5 hours from start to finish. He mentioned he carried out this task three times every week. That’s 4.5 hours each week. It’s 18 hours each month just for this one task.

He was stuck in a set routine, spending 18 hours each month carrying out a task which, after our meeting, he made a simple lifestyle change. This change freed up that time, those 18 hours, for anything else he wants to do.

By changing that set routine he now spends the time working, or with his family, or both. He has the choice of how to spend this time. He can do the things he wants to do, not just the things he needs to do.

When speaking with clients, it’s surprising how many people are in set routines. They say they do what they do because that’s the way it’s always been done. But so often, the way it’s always been done isn’t necessarily the most cost-effective or time-effective way of doing a task anymore.

If you struggle to finish tasks or run out of time, don’t leave it to the “last minute”, please give me a call and I will be happy to find the extra time in your day so you can do the things you want to do, not just the things you need to do.