10 Time-Saving Organization Hacks for Small Businesses

 

If you struggle to keep your small business organized, you likely feel overwhelmed, frustrated, and frazzled. It’s hard to organize your business when it’s just you and maybe a small team keeping it all together.

But the truth is that it is possible. And to prove it, I’m giving you 10 effective organization hacks that you can use to streamline your small business. 

1.  Go paperless.

Going paperless will save you space in your physical workplace. And if you set up a clear, easy-to-follow folder system, you can easily find any documents, invoices, videos, photos, or files you need.

To start, consider moving your file storage to the cloud with a tool like Dropbox. You can access it anywhere—and yes, it is secure.

You should also consider moving your bookkeeping, accounting, and invoicing online. There are plenty of fantastic online accounting tools, including QuickBooks Online, Wave, Freshbooks, and more.

2. Keep your designated workplace clean and tidy.

If you’re like most people, a disorganized workspace leads to disorganized work habits—not to mention a frazzled schedule. Research shows that when our work area is neat, we think more clearly and get more done.

Take just five minutes or less at the end of the workday to tidy up your desk or office, organize your papers, and put away items you aren’t using.

3. Keep your passwords in one (safe) place.

Just think of all the time you waste when you can’t remember your password. You try several different passwords first and then request a new one only to have it say you can’t use the same password as before. Pretty soon, you’re banging your head against your desk.

Make it easier on yourself and keep all your passwords in one place that you know is secure. Apps like 1Password allow you to store your passwords in one spot. It’s a great option for your personal and business needs.

4. Hire a bookkeeper to keep your finances organized.

How much time per month do you spend trying to organize your books or find a missing transaction? That’s a headache you don’t have to put on yourself.

If you can afford it, hiring a bookkeeper can free up hours of your time each week. Bookkeepers are trained to keep your finances organized each month, so why not leave it to the professionals?

There are budget-friendly options if your business is still small. Businesses like Bench specialize in helping small businesses with their bookkeeping at an affordable price.

5. Use Slack to communicate with your team.

Endless emails are the fastest way to clutter your inbox and your brain. By moving your communication with your team to an app like Slack, you can cut down on the amount of emails you get on a daily basis.

These apps work well if you need to touch base, make decisions, seek clarification, and even send files to team members or employees.

If you use Microsoft Office, its Teams app is another great option for team communication.

6. Use a CRM to keep track of your leads and contacts.

If you only have a few clients and leads at a time, then you’re probably fine to manage these on your own. But if your business is growing—and the number of your clients with it—then you should consider moving your contacts to a CRM (customer relationship management).

There several great ones out there, including Vtiger, HubSpot’s CRM (which has a free version), Insightly, and Zoho’s CRM.

7. Plan your content marketing a month ahead.

If you use blogging, social media, and email marketing to grow your brand online, then you would be wise to plan and schedule it ahead of time.

Create your content in batches and then use scheduling tools to set everything in place. In the long run, planning and creating your content in batches will save you hours of time.

8. If it’s just you, consider hiring a virtual assistant.

If you’re the only one working on your business, you have a lot on your plate. And chances are, a lot of those tasks are simple enough that you could hire someone else to do them for you. But if you can’t afford to hire a full-time employee yet, consider hiring a freelance virtual assistant.

Hiring a virtual assistant doesn’t have to be expensive. Start at 10 or 15 hours a week and hand over tasks like posting on social media, writing blogs, managing your calendar or email inbox, customer service, and so on.

9. Create your to-do list the night before.

Don’t wait until you’re in the moment to figure out what you need to do. Sit down at the end of your workday and write out what exactly you need to get done tomorrow. Create your schedule and commit to sticking with it.

This will cut down on unnecessary interruptions and help you stay focused on what’s most important.

10. Use stamps for your physical papers, letters, and invoices.

It’s important to keep your physical paperwork organized by labeling them. But writing by hand takes extra time and runs the risk of being illegible.

Make it easier by using stamps. You can use stamps to…

• Mark invoices as “Paid” or “Past Due.”
• Label important documents once you’ve faxed them.
• Indicate which documents are copies.
• Sign letters or documents with your signature.
• Put your return address on envelopes.
• Mark files with your logo.

Order your own self-inking custom stamps today. Consider this your first step toward better organizing your small business!