Paper takes a lot out of a business. All of the forms to fill out and to categorize can be overwhelming. I remember at one point in our company where we had to take time out over the course of a week just to make room for our growing paperwork. To me, this was a wakeup call. We were taking time out of our week to deal with a problem that was not going to make us any profit. Our system for keeping track of documents needed to be streamlined. Today, we scan all of our documents and keep them backed up in several places to ensure their security. Turing a document into a PDF file is very easy. There really isn’t any good reason not to do it if you have a scanner. An average scanner can be bought for under $200. This may seem overly expensive, but in the long run it will make your life so much easier. Once the document is in PDF form, it can be easily stored on your hard drive or a disk. This has made our lives much easier! Now when we need to retrieve a document, it’s a simple task. We simply click on the appropriate folder and quickly bring the document up. We also back up all of our files on a separate disk in case of a computer crash. We have not completely transitioned to being 100% paperless, but we have made changes in our business that has eliminated much of our paper use. Of course, having a positive effect on the environment is a bonus too. I must admit that this was not my first reason to do it. The way I see it though, is when something makes your business more effective and helps the environment at the same time, there’s no reason not to do it. It’s a win-win situation all around! I strongly encourage anyone who wants to go paperless to do so. It has been a big leap forward for us in terms of organization and efficiency.
Why Should I Go Paperless In My Business?
When to Add Employees
It’s every business owner’s goal to be profitable and in most cases, to grow. Growing is a natural evolution for any business. It means that it has been successful enough to expand its services or product line. This can be looked at as both a blessing and a curse however, because with increased services, come increased responsibility. Some business owners have trouble making this transition because it often means having to delegate their authority. Some have trouble with this because they view the business as their creation and they may not want to let go. The first thing that many business owners associate with an employee is having to pay them. The time a business owner should add extra help to their business can often be difficult to accurately predict. The first thing the owner needs to do is to be comfortable with the idea of letting go of some of the responsibility. This can be tough, but it is absolutely essential. An employee needs to feel like they are trusted and needed. An uncomfortable and untrusting owner makes for a bad working relationship, and can ultimately be detrimental to a business. The next thing that needs to be considered before help is added is the owner’s quality of life. Is she/he working 60+ hours a week? This may seem like a great way to cut back on expenses, such as having to pay employees, but what is it doing to the quality of the owner’s work? It’s much better to work 40 hours a week at maximum efficiency than 60 hours a week if it is making the owner miserable. Ultimately, an owner needs to ask themselves what they really want from their business. Do they want a bigger business or a smaller business? There is nothing wrong with having a small business, but an owner needs to accept the responsibility of having to do everything. Likewise, having a bigger business is great, but the owner needs to be prepared for delegating authority to employees.
Time Management
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Prioritizing is the single most important tool for proper time management. The way that I think about prioritizing is in percentages. When I think of my day and the long list of work that I must complete, I divide my time into categories, with more important categories receiving bigger percentages of my time. Very important tasks I will assign at least 50% of my time, while miscellaneous tasks will only take up 10% or less of my time. The trick is to stick with these time categories no matter what. Sometimes it’s tempting to put more time into the weekly filing when time is limited, but it needs to be kept in its place of importance given no more or less attention than it deserves.
With all of the many tasks that a typical office can face, there needs to be a system to manage the time it takes to complete each one. If too much time is given to smaller, relatively less important tasks, the office will not achieve its’ maximum efficiency for work output. This is not to say that these small tasks are not important; every office is faced with them and needs to complete them. These tasks need to be put in their proper prospective and they should not cause an office to miss completing big projects.
Filing, data entry, phone calls, writing documents and e-mails are tasks that all offices must complete, but they can really build up if they are not given enough time. They often act as an anchor for us and tend to drag an office down, and the most irritating thing about them is that we can’t just ignore them as much as we would love to. Sometimes hiring an extra employee is not the most desirable solution, because the extra cost of paying the new employee to do these tasks can be much more painful than having a backup of unfinished work. So often this leads to a vicious and painful cycle that repeats over and over. Before we know it, the small pile of extra work has turned into a mountain. To all of you out there who can relate to this, let’s just say that you’re not alone. Most offices have suffered this problem at one time or another. Sooner or later this problem gets worse. The reason is that if you didn’t have enough time to finish the work when you need an extra 8 hours, how will you complete it when it takes an extra 50 hours?
Jason Grass
K Grass Business Consulting
Newmarket, NH 03857
Phone: (603)292-5716
E-mail: jgrass@kgbusco.com
Website: http://www.kgbusco.com
Client Communication
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In business it is so common to make contact with a potential client, talk to them about your services and then never hear from them again. They may tell you, “oh, I need to check on a few things but I will contact you next week with more details”. They may tell you this even after they express excitement in the idea of hiring you and working with you. Next week comes and goes and they never respond. There is no e-mail or phone call to update you on the situation. I think we’ve all been in this situation. It can be tough, and sometimes it feels as though our time is not valued. One thing we can do as Virtual Assistants is to never be guilty of this habit ourselves. For starters, never tell anyone you can or will do something that you may not be able to do. It’s so easy to forget to e-mail or phone someone back, but when you remember to contact them it instills confidence in that person. They will begin to think of you as a person who does what you say you’re going to do. This of course is a good way for people to think about you. Not responding to a client or any person for that matter, makes them feel unimportant. In any business, making people feel unimportant is damaging to your reputation. I know what you’re thinking, “Phone calls take time and I’m totally swamped”. All I can say to this is that clients, either current or potential, want to be your number one priority. What can be done about this is to try and have a section of the day just to get back to people. This part of the day is a blocked out time, just for returning e-mails or phone calls. It needs to take priority over everything else. Even if this time is only 15 minutes, it will give you time to drop a quick e-mail to some people so you don’t leave them hanging. If you can’t even spare 15 minutes, then hiring someone just for returning calls and e-mails is a must. Often when a potential client is left hanging, they do what everyone else does, they move on. A potential client who moves on is a missed opportunity. Do you have systems in place to make sure you are maintaining contact with both current and past clients?
Jason Grass
K Grass Business Consulting
Newmarket, NH 03857
Phone: (603)292-5716
E-mail: jgrass@kgbusco.com
Website: http://www.kgbusco.com
Networking
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When we started our company about two and a half years ago, we had a budget of around $25 a month that we could spare. We were going into a new industry for the first time and we were so small and seemingly powerless compared to others in our field. We needed more clients if we were going to survive. Having graduated from college, we remember our professors always telling us that any company should always try to NETWORK! At the time we really didn’t understand the significance of this lesson. We learned very quickly what it meant. We used our $25 a month to get a decent website and we made a profile on over 18 different online social networking sites. These sites help bring in traffic to our website and best of all they’re all free. The word “free” is a magical word for any new business and should never be underestimated. Once we had a little more income we invested in a relatively inexpensive networking group that we could go to in person. This really helps our cause. When people see a profile of you online, that’s one thing; but when they get to see you in person once or twice a month you really start to make some connections. No longer were we a faceless unknown company. We quickly grew our connections and our network. The bottom line here is that if no one knows who you are, your business will die. There is no nice way to say it.
Jason Grass
K Grass Business Consulting
Newmarket, NH 03857
Phone: (603)292-5716
E-mail: jgrass@kgbusco.com
Website: http://www.kgbusco.com
When to Purchase Equipment
When you’re small and have a small budget it is really important to spend your precious money wisely. Whenever you purchase a new piece of equipment for your company, you need to ask yourself, “Do I absolutely need this right now to continue? ” If the answer is no, then you have your answer to buy or not. A new computer is not just faster processing power, more storage space and new applications, its’ also an extra $50 or so off your bottom line every month. Remember, profit is equal to your revenue minus your expenses. A new piece of equipment can lower your monthly profit because it increases your expenses. So you are probably asking right now, when is a good time to invest in new equipment?” The answer is not always simple, but a good rule of thumb is that if a new piece of equipment can increase your monthly revenue and pay for its own added expense, then you should purchase it. I know buying new equipment can be exciting, but try to remember that you’re in business to make a profit, or at least you should be. If you run your company on a lean budget and purchase wisely, you will save yourself many worries in the long run. How do you decide when it is necessary to purchase equipment? What process do you go through when you finally make that decision?
Jason Grass
K Grass Business Consulting
Newmarket, NH 03857
Phone: (603)292-5716
E-mail: jgrass@kgbusco.com
Website: http://www.kgbusco.com
Difficult Clients
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This is a difficult topic for me to write about because I try to look for the good in everyone, including my clients. But this subject is a reality and needs to be discussed because it is something that we have encountered since we have been in business. There are certain lines that a client shouldn’t cross. These warning signs can tip you off if a client is worth the trouble or not. First of all, if you are charging a reasonable price and your client reluctantly accepts it, you can expect this to be an issue for your entire working relationship. What I mean by a reasonable price is no higher than a majority of your competitors. If they complain about this in the beginning, expect to hear this come up again and again. Another warning sign is when a client calls you after hours repeatedly. A few times in case of emergency is alright, but when they start to do this all the time they are not respecting your right to have a life outside of work. Letting a client know when you are available in the beginning is very important. Remember, if you are an independent contractor you should not be treated like an employee. It is also important to emphasize to clients that they are not your only client. It is good to treat clients with the utmost respect and importance but not let them invade on billed time of other clients that you have. All these issues can be addressed and avoided by establishing a policies manual with your clients from the beginning. This lets the client know what to expect from the business relationship and if they have a copy of this then it can be referred back to at any time. It ensures a much smoother relationship between the client and you. Have you had experiences with difficult clients? How did you handle the situation?
Jason Grass
K Grass Business Consulting
Newmarket, NH 03857
Phone: (603)292-5716
E-mail: jgrass@kgbusco.com
Website: http://www.kgbusco.com
Honesty and Trust
One of the best services that you can offer your clients is your honesty. For many, trusting other people is a challenge. In today’s fast world of scams and identity theft, most people are living with their guard up. Having a working relationship that makes you feel truly at ease can be a rare thing, so when your clients start to feel this way know that it is a compliment to you. They feel as though they can let their guard down for you. If you run an honest organization, your clients will know it and remember you for it. Having clients that remember you for being honest are worth their weight in gold. They will tell others about this quality in you, which is quite possibly the greatest compliment that can be given. Most businesses have a variety of services that they offer. You should never forget to include the most important one.
Jason Grass
K Grass Business Consulting
Newmarket, NH 03857
Phone: (603)292-5716
E-mail: jgrass@kgbusco.com
Website: http://www.kgbusco.com
Word of Mouth Advertisement
We’ve all seen those fast food commercials on TV that tell us about a great new meal deal, for a fantastic price. We have also seen endless car commercials, stating that the time to buy is NOW! We have also seen furniture store commercials with silly gimmicks and themes. The most recent one that I saw was using baseball to lure in customers. Not that there’s anything wrong with baseball, I just don’t understand what it has to do with furniture. Then there’s the frequency of which they play them, which is constantly, so you are likely becoming immune to their message. I bet none of these commercials really inspire you to go out and buy the product you see on your TV screen. Now compare all of that to a friend or acquaintance that tells about a new place they ate at for lunch yesterday. They tell you the place is really clean, the prices are low, the portions are big, the staff is friendly and the food is some of the best they ever tasted. What’s the difference between what they said and what all of the burger places say on TV. Any good fast food ad will state all of those things and more. So what’s the difference? The difference is that you can believe your friend. You know that the opinion is unbiased and they’re not being paid to say it. The opinion then must have a fairly high likelihood of being valid. Also, in addition to telling you, they told 3 other people they know. Each of you will probably tell some people as well. The point I am trying to make here is that word of mouth advertising is king. If you please your clients enough, they will tell other people and their opinions will be taken with a level of seriousness. To enhance this effect, I recommend getting testimonials from any client who will give you one. These recommendations are extremely valuable and should be sought after whenever possible. Post these testimonials on a website if you have one. Let the power of word of mouth advertising work for you. Have you gotten referrals from word of mouth advertising? Have you had experiences with word of mouth advertising either as a customer or a company?
Jason Grass
K Grass Business Consulting
Newmarket, NH 03857
Phone: (603)292-5716
E-mail: jgrass@kgbusco.com
Website: http://www.kgbusco.com
Why Hire a Virtual Assistant?
Virtual Assistance is a new field that some people are still unaware of. A Virtual Assistant is an independent contractor who helps other businesses with a variety of tasks. They often serve the same function as an employee with some distinct differences. A Virtual Assistant typically does work from their own office, unlike an employee who works on site. Virtual Assistants can do this with the use of their own computers, high speed internet, e-mail, fax and phone. Obviously the work that a virtual assistant can do is office work by nature. There probably aren’t too many virtual construction workers out there. Virtual Assistants can also be hired to complete a short term task that would be unsuitable for an employee. There’s no point in hiring an extra employee to complete a month long assignment. With an employee, there are additional costs that a company must incur. These costs include paid breaks, paid vacations, office space, office equipment, insurance and training. A Virtual Assistant doesn’t come with any of those extra costs. We, for example, only get paid for each minute that we work, not a cent more. We don’t require training on any task that we provide. Our skill at these tasks is already quite high. We have our own technology that we use for our clients. This technology is current as we try to stay up to date with new tools and applications. We don’t need insurance from any clients that we work for, we already have our own. We would recommend a Virtual Assistant to any company that wants to improve their bottom line. The fact is it’s cheaper to hire a Virtual Assistant than an employee.
Jason Grass
K Grass Business Consulting
Newmarket, NH 03857
Phone: (603)292-5716
E-mail: jgrass@kgbusco.com
Website: http://www.kgbusco.com
