Your Guide to Starting a Small Business: Time Management

You know what they say, “Time is Money.” This statement couldn’t be more true when it comes to starting and running your own business. There are a finite number of minutes in every day, and how you choose to spend those minutes is usually a factor of how much money you make that day. With so much at stake every day, it’s important to get organized and track how you’re spending your precious time. Luckily there are a number of time tracking tools and task management systems to keep you on top of your game day in and day out.

Time Tracking

For those of us who bill by the hour, time tracking can be fun. Who wouldn’t want to keep track of their billable hours and watch the money stack up?  However, if you charge a flat rate for your services or if you sell a product (as opposed to a service), tracking your time can reveal some disappointing truths about the number of hours you’re putting in and the reward you’re getting in return. But in order to run a successful business and be a responsible business owner, time tracking is something that must be done.

Track Everything

Whether you’re at the office, meeting with a client, making calls, or sending e-mails, keep track of the time you spend on each task that you do for work. That way, you can go back and see exactly where your time is going and find ways to trim the fat. You may be surprised to find out that you’re spending 20 hours a month at client meetings. Maybe next month you can arrange more meetings to take place over Skype to eliminate extra time spent driving, eating, and engaging in off-topic conversations.

If your business is service-based, it’s extremely important that you keep track of the time you spend on each project or job for several reasons:

1. If you bill by the hour you need to know how many hours you worked to figure out how much to charge the client
2. If you charge a flat rate for your services, it’s important to figure out what you made on an hourly basis

On the surface it may seem like time tracking is most important for those entrepreneurs billing by the hour. However, I’d argue that it is even more important for those charging a flat rate. Take for example a photographer who charges $500.00 for a session. While that may seem like a lot of money for just one job, if the photographer ends up spending 20 hours on the project, meeting with the client, shooting and editing the pictures, her hourly rate comes out to a mere $25 per hour. That’s something the photographer may not have been aware of had she not tracked her time spent on the project. If the photographer is still set on charging a flat rate for her services, she might want to consider increasing the flat rate in order to improve her hourly rate.

Our Time Tracking Weapon of Choice

There are plenty of free time tracking applications (http://freelanceswitch NULL.com/productivity/6-cool-tools-to-track-your-time/) out there, it’s just a matter of finding one that you feel comfortable with and has the features you need. We have found that Toggl (https://www NULL.toggl NULL.com/) works great for us. It’s simple, yet it provides all of the features we need to effectively and efficiently keep track of our time. As you can see, Toggl allows you to organize your tasks by project for easy retrieval when the time comes to invoice the client.

Task Management Tricks

Remember that “Oh Crap” moment you used to get in school when you realized you forgot to do last night’s homework assignment? Well imagine that feeling x100 when you get a call from a paying client asking where those revisions are that you promised yesterday. Everyone has their own methods for staying organized and making sure everything gets done. However, if your method is akin to “mental reminders” maybe it’s time to consider a new method.

As an entrepreneur, you know how quickly your days fill up with tasks that pull you in different directions and cause you to be stressed out. I don’t know about you, but I find that when I’m feeling stressed out about a heavy work load, as soon as I organize my tasks into a list and start checking things off, I start to feel a whole lot better. Find a good task management tool to improve your efficiency and your piece of mind.

Our Task Management Weapon of Choice

Task management can be so much more than just a to-do list. With the right program, you can break down large projects into smaller steps, include notes on each task, and sync with all of your electronic devices. Possibly the most simple task management solution I’ve found is Wunderlist (http://wunderlist NULL.com). And I do mean simple. It literally serves one purpose and that is to keep track of your tasks. However, it does allow you to categorize tasks, write notes for each task, and it syncs with your mobile device. Also, it’s free.

If you’re looking for a task management system with a few more bells and whistles, OnmiFocus (http://www NULL.omnigroup NULL.com/products/omnifocus/features/) is another great solution. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Chris prefers this program for staying organized and managing his day. It allows for more customization and categorizing than Wunderlist.

As you can see, time tracking and task management go hand-in-hand when it comes to managing your time and being the most efficient entrepreneur you can be. Using the right tools can be the difference between someone who is successful and professional, and someone who always seems to be one step behind.