While there are hundreds of different software solutions out there that can help in every area of your business, this blog describes the three most critical in any business, in my opinion.

Clockify

How often have you asked ‘where did the day go’?

If you’re not aware of how much time you spend in each area of your business, how do you expect to increase productivity and as a result, your profits?

Time tracking software, even if you don’t bill by the hour, is essential for working effectively. Every business owner, at some point or other, will be working on their business rather than in it, and the time spent here is just as important to track as client work.

By knowing how much time you’re spending on different business tasks (as opposed to client work), you can see what jobs are taking up your time and what shouldn’t be.

This allows you to delegate the time-consuming or low-value tasks that need to get done but not necessarily by you. You can then focus your time on the efforts that make more of a difference to your business.

Clockify is a great tool for tracking your time and is the one I use in my business. I also like the ability to track time for my team and get the report I need to bill clients correctly.

Another free alternative I recommend is Toggl. Whichever you use, tracking your time will give you insights into how you operate as a business.

Xero and Hubdoc

There are a few good accounting software options out there, but the combination of Xero and Hubdoc has to be my favourite.

It is vital to keep up to date with your business finances for any sort of projections, funding and analysis of how your business is doing. But it doesn’t have to be hard work.

Using Xero helps you track everything for your business finances, from out-going payments and client invoices to tax liabilities and financial reporting. It’s easy to set up (we can help you with that too if you need it), and once you understand the basics, you can keep on top of your finances instead of dreading the day your accountant contacts you for your records.

The integration with Hubdoc makes it even easier as it captures your receipts with a simple click and imports the data into Xero for you. Before you even leave the shop, your bookkeeping is half done!

If you don’t have a bookkeeping system set up, then I highly recommend Xero and Hubdoc as accounting software that will make your finances easier to manage.

And if you do have it set up and are struggling, give me a call. I can solve most niggles in 15 minutes, for free, and get you back on your feet again.

Adobe Sign

One of the most important processes to get right is the on-boarding of new clients.

By making this process slick and easy, you transform the way people value the relationship. They instantly feel in safer hands and have more confidence in the choice they have made in working with you. To read more about onboarding clients, click here.

Adobe sign is an electronic signature app that you can integrate with Mircosoft, Google, Salesforce and other programmes that allows you to collect signatures for your contracts easily.

It takes only a few minutes to generate a contract and all the client has to do is sign it digitally. They can do this at their desk or on their phones on the move.

It’s a simple solution, but it creates a great first impression.

Summary

Choosing the right software for your business can make all the difference to your day-to-day running and enjoyment of your business.

The three recommendations above are vital to my business and if you don’t have software in place that covers these areas, these would be my go-to solutions.

If you want help in setting up processes and software that help your business and save you time, contact us to see how we can help set you up for success.

For more tips on systems and processes that help grow your business, subscribe to our newsletter here.

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The issue

It boils down to time. Being time poor specifically.

The biggest issue we see in struggling businesses is that they ‘do what they’ve always done’ because they don’t have the time to review whether or not it’s working as efficiently as possible.

What they do works, otherwise they would have found another way, but generally speaking, business owners want to create more time for themselves. Because they are stuck in a routine of doing what they know, there’s no reviewing of the process to see how it could be done better.

A lot of small businesses start as a one-man-band before expanding and so ‘do what I’ve always done’ can be ingrained into the business culture.

The other issue is that people are cost-conscious, and the tasks that eat up so much time are things that are easy to do. Email, bookkeeping, calendar management – it’s all doable, so they do it. It’s quite common to see business owners spending time on non-revenue generating tasks at the expense of revenue-generating tasks, all because of ‘this is how it’s done/I can do this so why should I pay someone else to’.

This mindset of it saves money doing it themselves means that the consequences of not delegating are not considered fully. The problem is that it takes away time that could be better spent concentrating on areas of the business that lead to more revenue.

Generating income and developing the business should be the top priorities for the business owner, and the other stuff is what should be delegated. Learning to delegate is an essential part of being a business owner.

What it affects

While there are multiple areas that can be affected by this, the main area that suffers is the customer experience.

For example, having a manual onboarding process that is complicated and drawn out starts the relationship off on the wrong foot. It doesn’t instil confidence or make the customer feel comfortable with their buying decision.

When presales and after-sales customer support is inefficient, the customer feels let down. Processes that aren’t succinct or simple create bumps on the customer journey, which in turn affect your business reputation.

Summary

If you are in this situation, it is only because you’re doing it the only way you know-how. It doesn’t make it wrong or a mistake.

Awareness of the problem is the first step in finding the solution, so knowing where you spend your time in your business is key to creating a more efficient and productive workflow.

Look at the processes in your business and see if they are the best way to do things or just how they’ve always been done. It might be time to shake things up!

And if you need help to review your processes and create more time for yourself in your business, then give us a call.

For more tips on systems and processes that help grow your business, subscribe to our newsletter here.

Get a little superstar treatment by contacting us on:

Email: info@jaxstarsolutions.co.uk

Telephone: 020 3362 4436

Mobile: 07811 393520

Website: https://www.jaxstarsolutions.co.uk/

Why it’s important to reflect

It’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day of running a business that we sometimes forget to take a step back and check that we’re still on the right path.

Setting time aside to reflect on the past week, fortnight or month keeps us focused on the end goal and the tasks needed to get us there. We can see where things are going well and what needs improvement and make any changes early to not waste time on work that takes us in the wrong direction.

How to reflect

There is no set method for reflecting so it’s up to you how you want to do this. My pointers would be to:

• Put it in your diary – schedule it like you would any meeting and set a time limit.
• Have an idea of what you want to reflect on – know what you want to get out of the session.
• Have an open mind and be kind – especially to yourself. Don’t beat yourself up if the past week didn’t go as planned. It’s all a learning experience.
• Write down your thoughts – no matter how trivial, getting it down on paper clears your mind and opens you up for new ideas.

What to reflect on

Again, this is completely up to you. You might decide to split each week of the month into separate sections of the business, or goals one month and processes the next. Whatever frequency and focus that keeps you moving forward are going to be the best method for you.

You could reflect on:

Goals – are they still your goals, how are you progressing, do you have new ones, what’s your priority?

Vision – is what you’re doing holding true to your vision, is it the same vision?

Values – have you set these out, are they still true or have they changed, does how you run your business reflect these?

Progress – how are you and your business growing, what other areas are you seeing progress in?

Development – are you taking time for personal and business development, where could you develop further, what courses or other training is available to you?

Lessons – what have you learned through interactions, what does this tell you about what you might need in the future?

Message – does your messaging match your vision and values, is it getting through to your clients?

Schedule/time management – are you making the best use of your time, do you find certain tasks being put off consistently, are your work hours eating into your home hours, where would it be more efficient to hand over to someone else?

Tools/processes – are there tools and other processes or systems that could help you, are there any getting in the way?

What to do next

Reflecting allows you to see what’s working, what’s not, and to make a plan.

After thinking about the different areas above, what do you need to change or do more of? What will help you get to where you want to go – why you built your business in the first place.

You might find that you need more time, once you’ve reflected, to fix something. For example, you might find that your message is completely at odds with your values. In that case, you’ll need the time to understand where it went wrong and how to fix it.

The good thing is, now you know and can do something about it.

Summary

Working on your business is just as important, if not more so, than in your business, so see this time as an opportunity for growth. 

Do it regularly and you’ll get further, faster.

If you need more time on your business, we’re experts in taking on those lower-value tasks that eat up your time. Contact us and see how we can help you manage your time more effectively.

For more tips on systems and processes that help grow your business, subscribe to our newsletter here.

Get a little superstar treatment by contacting us on:

Email: info@jaxstarsolutions.co.uk

Telephone: 020 3362 4436

Mobile: 07811 393520

Website: https://www.jaxstarsolutions.co.uk/

I use this time of year to do just that, so I thought I would share a few helpful tips of how I research and plan what I want to buy for the best price as well as some tips to ensure you are getting the best product and service from these retailers.

If you’re shopping for tech, know the life cycles

Most technology, including smartphones, TVs and tablets, is released on a one-year cycle, so you only need to wait 12 months before there’s a shiny new device to get excited about. Big tech companies will do their best to tempt you into buying their latest release, but the forgotten device celebrating its first birthday could still be more than adequate and it’s also far more likely to be on sale.

Research your favourite products’ price history

There are useful web tools you can use to check how much a product has been sold for previously so you can work out whether the ‘sale’ price really represents good value. CamelCamelCamel, for example, provides price history for products sold on Amazon, whereas PriceRunner has wider market coverage.

Make a list of different retailers selling the same product

The rush in activity on Black Friday can cause websites to crash and retailers to run out of stock. If this happens while you’re trying to buy a product, having a pre-prepared list of stockists will mean you can try others, so you don’t miss out.

Start your Black Friday shopping early

Many retailers have already launched deals a week before Black Friday and this year some retailers are running promotions through the whole of November. If you are waiting for Black Friday itself to search for bargains, remember the best deals are likely to be snapped up quickly – especially big-ticket items – and some products may already have sold out.

Check the returns policy

The one good thing that has come out of lockdown is that everyone will be shopping online which gives you more rights than shopping in store. You have 14 days from the date of delivery to cancel an order and a further 14 days to return it for a full refund. You should also get the original standard postal costs back. Many shops offer extended returns periods in the run up to Christmas – handy if you are buying a gift.

Ensure to check whether the policies entitle you to the actual money back or just a store credit/exchange!

Set up online accounts in advance

It is not unheard of for websites to slow to a crawl on Black Friday and for popular deals to sell out quickly, so you’ll want to get in and out as swiftly as possible.  Open online accounts with your favourite retailers, pre-enter your payment and shipping details, and save them to your account so you can complete purchases quickly once deals are live.

It’s also worth signing up to your favourite retailers’ newsletters and following them on social media as this may give you early access to deals.

Jackie Forster

Jaxstar Solutions is a valuable resource used by Small Businesses and Corporate organisations to help in the day to day running and operational side of their business, enabling them to get back out there and do what they do best…sell their products and services to make money.

Dropbox

Who else can relate to carrying around a bag full of paperwork, laptops and tablets because they contain different information you need? Dropbox is the multitaskers saviour, creating a virtual link between all of your Internet connected devices. Using the cloud allows users to save all images, documents, and videos of any size into their account, which can be accesses from anywhere and shared easily with other users.

Google Analytics

When you start your business, you know it’s all about the numbers. How many people visited my website? How many enquiries did I get? What page got the most traction? All these questions play a major role in the success of a small business and tracking them is no easy task. With Google Analytics, it is made simple with clear charts and graphs so that the least savvy individual can feel confident understanding their data.

Zoom

Zoom has revolutionised the long-distance relationship, and that is not just referring to the romantic ones. With everyone working remotely it has allowed the world to go on virtually, it’s video capabilities are great for large groups, break out rooms are ideal for networking and it’s customer usability is so simple that anyone and everyone can join.

Adobe sign or HelloSign

When sending contracts, emailing your clients or simply printing documents to store you should always have an electronic signature somewhere on the page to legally bind that document. Both these tools are really easy to use and moves you away from pen and paper.

Toggl
You should always have a document that highlights any meetings, tasks or projects you worked on to ensure you don’t prioritise your time in the wrong area’s. There are many time tracking apps, but I always recommend Toggl as it allows you to track your daily activities across different platforms; providing you with detailed insights and an opportunity to optimise your workflow by identifying areas where you can improve.

Xero

Ensure you have a good invoice management, it encourages regular cash flow, eases accounting woes, and saves you time. There are many to choose from, however one I know best and recommend is Xero. One of my favourite aspects of Xero is that it is ‘on the cloud’. That means you can access the software no matter where you are, and if you ever did not have access to your own computer, you can use an alternative. Xero can also be easily kept up to date as it takes its information directly from your online banking, you can see exactly where you stand financially, whenever you want.

Receipt bank or Hubdoc

Receipt Bank is an easy way to capture all the information needed for a set of accounts. By simply sending all invoices and receipts to your own personalised email address or taking a photo and sending through the app, Receipt Bank captures all the information and reports it back into Xero.

Hubdoc is Xero’s version of Receipt Bank. It isn’t as intuitive as Receipt Bank but does a good imitation and can  save lots of time

LastPass

A password manager makes your internet experience easier and safer. With a password manager like LastPass to manage your logins, it is easy to have a strong, unique password for every online account and improve your online security. It stores login information of various accounts and automatically enters them into web forms to save you time.

GoCardless or Stripe

GoCardless is an online tool which makes it easy for your regular customers to pay you by Direct Debit. GoCardless removes the need for customers to view, approve, and action any invoices you send, so you don’t need to wait around for clients to authorise payment upon receipt of a new bill – the payment is made automatically.

Google My Business

Having a GMB page is free advertising for your business, that you simply apply for and verify to appear in local searches. All you must do is regularly update your profile and when people google keywords that are relevant, you will be at the top of the list.

If you have any questions about any of these tools please send us a message and we would be more than happy to help set, you up or help you to fully utilise your account. As we are partners with many of these providers we may be able to offer at a reduced rate too.

Jackie Forster

Jaxstar Solutions is a valuable resource used by Small Businesses and Corporate organisations to help in the day to day running and operational side of their business, enabling them to get back out there and do what they do best…sell their products and services to make money.