Productivity plays a major role in a company's success. For an entrepreneur, the priority is to generate as many sales as possible, and that's perfectly understandable. Too little sales could jeopardize your cash flow, given the many expenses you have to bear in return. So, of course, all non-productive tasks are a waste of his time. They are often even his bête noire, as they encroach on not only his work but also his patience. Here's a closer look at six time-consuming activities that get in the way of entrepreneurs and prevent them from concentrating on their core business.
Administrative
How unloved this paperwork that sometimes seems so superfluous! And yet! Administrative tasks contribute to the smooth running of a business. In fact, they're essential for sound accounting and compliance with the law.
Solutions exist to automate the management of recurring tasks. Numerous applications make life easier for entrepreneurs. Don't hesitate to make use of them.
Some times are better than others for taking care of your administrative tasks: at the end of the day or after lunch, when things are quieter or you're less active. You can also call on the services of an outsourced secretary, who will intervene only when needed.
Prospecting
It can happen that a lot of time is wasted dealing with prospects, only to end up with no results at all. This time spent inevitably results in a loss of earnings.
The ability to identify genuine customers and drive away the curious is not innate. It can be learned with experience, or by learning more about marketing techniques. The real prospect is the one who has expressed a concrete project potentially corresponding to what the company can offer. The risk is in considering all contacts as serious customers and approaching them all in the same way.
Looking for customers, making quotations and advertising should never take up 100% of a working day. Specific time slots should be set aside for this activity.
In the beginning, e-mails were a blessing: no more printers, paper, envelopes, stamps, letter scales... Unfortunately, these days, e-mail inboxes fill up a little too quickly, to the point of invading us needlessly. It's an obvious waste of time to read, sort and delete e-mails. What's more, the incessant sound notifications are distracting.
Good e-mail management is therefore essential. It's best to define one or more times during the day to deal with them all at once. You can also classify them in order of importance.
Social networks
Of course, social media can help your business grow, and shouldn't be neglected. The downside is that they can also be detrimental to productivity. They create an inevitable dependency, and the trap is to read articles, watch videos, look at photos or check up on friends and family instead of focusing on actions that are only useful to the business.
At the same time, the Internet, with the enormous amount of information it offers, has everything to distract anyone from their professional obligations. 80% of employees admit to visiting sites having nothing to do with their work during office hours.
You caninstall a website blocker on your computer to avoid temptation. It has also been shown that setting a timer to dissociate work and distraction times increases performance. The person commits to a task and doesn't deviate from it. Then they take a moment to surf the net.
The telephone
Telephone calls waste a considerable amount of time, even though they are necessary and sometimes essential for certain activities. In fact, you may have to call customers and suppliers on a regular basis to negotiate, sell or buy. That's why it's important not to be overwhelmed by talkative callers, and to stay on topic.
Learning how to optimize time spent on the phone is important.
The meetings
Most employees see meetings as pointless. Yet important information should be communicated orally rather than in memos. Meetings can also be used to exchange opinions or resolve certain issues through dialogue.
The key is to stay on target. A well-prepared, structured meeting, with a precise agenda and no informal discussions, is much more efficient and saves precious time.