Following your passion, deciding your schedule, and being your own boss seems like an ideal life. But everything has its share of challenges. When you are a solopreneur, every task falls on your shoulder! You simply cannot ignore something as important as complying with laws and regulations and something as basic as creating blog posts. The unprecedented amount of authority may pay you heavily if you do not follow a plan for organizing and simplifying your day-to-day tasks.
So, if you do not wish to lose money or lose your mind, check out these ten life-saving ways for simplifying your solopreneur business-:
- Opt for online appointment scheduling
When you decided to become a solopreneur, you most probably chose to not hire an assistant for managing your daily meetings and appointments. So, you should do what many appointment-based businesses are doing- using a free online appointment scheduling system! Access Picktime, a free online appointment scheduler usable via any web-enabled device. Picktime provides you with an online calendar through which you can display your slot availability for appointments. You can design and customize an online booking page with a booking button and link it with your Facebook and Instagram business profiles and website to get more online bookings. Build a personalized online booking form with custom fields to know the exact requirements of your clients. Remind clients and customers about daily appointments through automated email and SMS alerts. Evaluate your business performance by accessing and downloading detailed business reports from your Picktime dashboard.
- Create a priority list
As a one-person team, you are the master of all the business operations. But, it is not humanly possible to do ten tasks at a time. So, take up one to two projects at a time. Begin your day with a priority list and enlist all your tasks in order of importance and urgency. You can use online tools like Google Keep or Evernote to make such lists. Check off each task after completion to see how much you have achieved in a single day.
- Outsource tasks to freelancers and interns to reduce workload
Every entrepreneur has some specialties of their own. While someone may be great at writing content, another business owner can be a pro at website development. However, most entrepreneurs are not all-rounders, and even if they are, managing everything by themselves will risk delaying projects and losing clients. As an entrepreneur, focus on vital tasks and outsource other tasks based on the project requirements. Suppose you have taken the responsibility to manage the social media profiles of a client, then you can outsource tasks like content writing, graphic designing, and social media management to interns and freelancers to reduce your workload and the costs of hiring professionals. Make sure you pay them well for their work.
- Create and save files in the Cloud
Cloud-based technologies are great for simplifying your daily business operations. Most businesses today work simultaneously from office and home. Hence, as a solopreneur, you need to connect your office space with your home. It means that you have to store your files in a cloud-based app accessible through your email ID so that even if you shift your location, you will not lose your files. Use apps like Google Drive from your Gmail account or Office 365 from your Outlook account to create, edit, and save presentations, documents, excel sheets, videos, images, and much more. Cloud-based apps are safe and easy to use. However, make sure that you have a backup of all the files on your hard drive for emergency purposes.
- Organize your office desk
It is not surprising at all! Indeed, productivity and efficiency increase when you have a neat and clean working environment. Imagine yourself sitting on your chair surrounded by piles of paperwork. Scary, isn’t it? Organizing your desk and personal belongings is necessary for harboring positive feelings about your work. Properly name your files and arrange them inside folders in your computer system. Make sure you do not have too many files on your desktop. Pin your priority list in front of your desk to easily recall daily tasks. Go paperless and send digital invoices. You can also email scanned documents to your clients instead of printing papers and sending them to their addresses. Use apps like CamScanner and Adobe Scan for scanning documents.
- Exclude distracting activities
You won’t believe it but checking your email inbox too many times is distracting! Things like social media, mobile games, and unnecessary phone calls can also divert your mind during work hours. As a solopreneur, you do not have so much time for multitasking. So, pick up one project at a time and avoid using your phone during work hours. Use a different phone for office purposes. Set a time daily for checking your emails and replying to them. Block websites like Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites, to keep yourself from getting tempted. Practice this and see how much more you can accomplish when you do not wander on time-wasting activities.
- Use chatbot for great customer experience
Hiring a sales team is difficult for solopreneurs. So, artificial intelligence can save your day. Use a chatbot application for your website and let it answer questions from prospective clients and customers. Chatbots are beneficial for you because they are available in multiple languages and work 24/7. Most large companies use chatbots to improve customer experience. However, small businesses can also use chatbots because they are not overly priced; and anyway, you are saving money by not hiring too many sales and marketing executives.
- Use social media post scheduling apps
While you grow your business as a solopreneur, social media becomes a key communication channel for attracting clients and customers worldwide. Often, small businesses can run Facebook and Instagram carousel ads or create events on Facebook to create a buzz about their products/services. Social media posts are a vital and unmissable daily task! If you fail to post at regular intervals, people will start forgetting you. But how can you manage social media posts alone while you are writing documents for the clients? The answer is automated scheduling! Use Creator Studio to schedule Facebook and Instagram posts at a particular time, and your posts will be shared successfully at the set time. You can also monitor views, likes, impressions, and shares from the dashboard. On the other hand, you can use Tweetdeck to schedule posts on Twitter and analyze the performance of your posts through the same app.
- Use video conferencing apps for client meetings
Unless you are a witch like Hermoine Granger with a time-turner, you cannot be present at multiple locations at the same time! You may have clients from around the world, and it is not affordable to travel to so many places for meetings. As a solution to this problem, use video conferencing platforms like Zoom Meetings, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams to host virtual meetings with remote clients. You can even share documents, weblinks, and present your screen on these platforms.
- Prioritize your health and happiness
Solopreneurs are individuals who single-handedly start and run their businesses. The journey is not as easy as it seems. You will lose your calm and sleep. You may often forget meals while you are busy in client meetings. But, without the entrepreneur, the business stands null and void. Hence, taking care of your health and sleeping on time is crucial for simplifying your business operations. Lack of sleep can make you grumpy and lessen your productivity. Ensure that you drink enough water and regularly go out for a walk to stay mentally and physically fit.
Consider these ten ideas for streamlining daily business operations. Above all, stay focused and have confidence in yourself. Be ready to take risks. At times, when you make mistakes, accept your faults and do not quit. Just remember why you are here and how hard you have struggled to reach where you are today.