Do you own a small business and find you have no free time? Have you recently found yourself too busy to have lunch with a friend? Does your family start dinner without you? While these are not perfect predictors (life happens), being “too busy” may be a symptom that your business time management needs some…
Backing up your accounting data used to mean printing off reams of paper reports stuffed into boxes, and then you had to find a place to keep all that. Today, backing up your accounting data means generating a few PDFs and keeping extra copies electronically. 1. Save PDF versions of year-end accounting reports Accounting systems…
In September 2013, we converted our liquor store from using an old-fashioned cash register and paper records to using an iPad-based Point of Sale system. I learned so much in the process that I knew you’d want to me to share. Our Old System: lots of paper When my mom bought her liquor store in…
Like many small town business people, I have more than one business: liquor store, cattle ranch, speaking and writing about small town business, and Tourism Currents. So how do I do it all? It’s one of the most common questions that I get asked. That’s why Cory Miller of Entrepreneurship Lab and I put together this…
The Best Way to Deal with Email What’s the best way to deal with email? Have it sorted automatically, before you ever see it, into groups based on the frame of mind needed to act on it. Frame of mind might be “reading” for newsletters that are informative, or “read and reply immediately” for work…
A common issue for small-business owners is having too much to do and too little time. The small-business owner wears many hats. On any one day, he or she may need to make a major decision on anything from adding a new product line to finding new customers to reviewing and even doing the financial…
It’s the stereotypical small town business: the bait shop, tire store, and gas station all in one. But multiplying your lines of income is much more than just cramming more businesses into your building. It’s also about businesses that stick to one niche, but find more than one way to produce their income. Multiple businesses:…
How you spend your time tells everyone what is important to you. When you are your own boss, and maybe even the only one in the company, no one tells you when to or how to focus on the most important things. Focus is a do-it-yourself project. You need some “locked door,no interruption” time to…
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