How To Run Your Small Business On Only 3 Days A Week

With the hundreds of things that you have to do on a daily basis, this title is probably causing you to run for cover.
I mean, how can you get the most important things in your business accomplished in three days? Or how about the hundreds of other details, that if left unfinished will come back to haunt you?

I only have one thing to ask you – If someone said they would pay you 10 Million dollars if you were able to run your business on three days a week – could you do it?

Or better yet, – If your life depended on it, could you run your business successfully on three days a week?

The truth is that, it is not only possible, but hundreds of business owners are doing it as we speak.

Books are being written by people who have done it multiple times as examples for us that it is possible. The Four Hour Work Week, by Timothy Ferris, and Build a Business, Not a Job – by David Finkel, are just a few.

So, If you were offered 10 Million Dollars to maintain a 3 day workweek – What would you do to accomplish it?

Here are a few ideas that have successful business owners do to manage the many tasks they have to do everyday.

1, Prioritize Them

Via Pareto’s principle – 20% of what you do brings 80% of your results. This means that only 20% of all the things you are currently going crazy over are bringing your business great results.

Why not identify the things that bring the greatest value to your organization (in terms of revenue, growth and fulfilling your vision) and spend your three days accomplishing those things.

With the remaining low value items, you can…

2. Eliminate Them

The enemy of the great is not the bad, but the good. Most of our time we are distracted by good little things that eat up all of our time to be great. I mean, do we really have to check our e-mail everyday? How about those crazies that check their e-mails every 5 minutes?

What if we could set our e-mails with an autoresponder that says (“… I only check my e-mails three days a week. If you have an emergency please call my assistant at…”). If we can eliminate time stealers, little by little it adds up to as much as a few hours a day.

3. Automate Them

Did you know that there are hundreds of business software, websites and technological solutions that can replace just about 30 – 70% of the work that a person can do? What is most interesting is that it cost very little, or is absolutely free.

Also, setting up the simplest systems, processes, templates, forms, checklist, etc. could make it so that you do not have to be around to do the work.

The goal is make your business systems dependent, not “control freak” dependent.

4. Delegate Them

Sometimes we think that a person needs to be a rocket scientist before we delegate to them. Or we think no one could do it better than we can. Or maybe we think we are a one man or woman show so we cannot afford anyone to delegate to.

What we need to remember is that the person does not have to be perfect, they just have to be trained.

If we provide the proper training, systems and encouragement – our people will be empowered to take our business to greater heights that we can ourselves.

If you can’t afford the help – go to your local college and get an intern whose major is in what your business currently needs (Marketing, Finance, etc.) – College students nowadays are a lot smarter than you think (remember facebook?).

5. Outsource Them

With outsourcing you have teams of trained professionals ready to do what you are wasting time trying to be good at. What is even better is that there are people around the world that have Harvard equivalent degrees that are willing to do the work for 1/10th of the price you would pay in your local area (don’t believe me – check Elance.com or ODesk).

My CPA is in Wisconsin and charges $ 35 an hour. My soon to be virtual assistant charges $ 3 per hour. My attorney costs me $ 25 a month. Get the picture?

Conclusion

Can you build a lucrative business on three days a week? There are business builders making tens of millions of dollars that would say a resounding yes. As a matter of fact, they would tell you that they are able to do so because they have the extra time in their weeks to really enjoy their life as well.

All I can say is, what is our excuse?

When starting a new business one of the most daunting tasks the entrepreneur will face is that of accounting. Many small business owners neglect this important area of business, particularly during start up. Making this mistake can be fatal and many companies fail because of a lack of knowledge of the business’ finances. Keeping good records and having good accounting practices from day one is paramount. There are many simple, yet effective techniques that can help the small business owner get their finances on track.

The first, and most important thing, you can do is to set your business up as a legal entity separate from yourself. This means setting up some type of corporation, or LLC. This simple step is overlooked by too many entrepreneurs. Keeping your personal and business finances and taxes separate is the main reason for this, but there are other benefits as well. Which of the different entities is right for you will depend on many factors of your business, and you should consult a CPA and an attorney to help you with the process.

Once you have decided on which entity you will use and have followed your state’s guidelines to set it up you will need to file form SS-4 with the IRS to obtain your EIN, which will be your business’ federal tax ID number. As soon as you have set up your business entity your next step will be to visit your bank (be sure to check out the competition’s offers as well) to open your business checking account. Most banks offer free small business checking accounts with no minimum balances. If the bank is going to charge you for small business checking, or a debit card, find another bank.

When choosing a bank be sure to ask the sales representative if the statements are cut on the last business day of the month, so that each statement represents an individual month. If the statement is cut on a floating 30 cycle, or if the cycle begins on the day of the month on which you opened the account find another bank. This simple thing can save hours when settling your account each month.

It is also a smart idea to have multiple accounts dedicated to different portions of your business as well. This may include a payroll account, an account that receives payment deposits and an operating account to name a few. If the bank only allows one free account per business find another bank. You may find that you need multiple accounts and keeping up with them all is starting to get confusing. If this happens ask your banker about the Cash Management services they offer. These services will normally include fees, but can help save you time, energy and headaches.

Once you have your new business set up and you are starting to see some cash flow you must make sure to keep your business and personal finances completely separated. This means that only revenue from the business should be going through the business checking accounts, and more importantly that no personal purchases be made through the business.

It is crucial that you take a salary from your business, rather than spending the business’ money on yourself. There are several different ways to take a salary including taking a fixed amount and/or a percentage amount based on the business’ performance.

My last point is also on the list of things often overlooked by the small business owner. Make sure you hire a bookkeeper. This point bears repeating – Make sure that you hire a bookkeeper. Even if your business is small it will be a tremendous benefit to hire someone to keep the books. Most new businesses fail to do this because they are trying to save money, but the fact of the matter is that you can get a bookkeeper for around $ 25 per hour depending on where you do business. Your time can be better spent on other aspects of the business that are your specialty and others can’t do. Make sure you are leveraging your time properly. There are thousands of bookkeepers out there but only one you! These types of services will usually save you a lot of money in the long run.

These are just a few points that all new business owners should make sure to focus on during start up. This was by no means an exhaustive list o

 

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