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Author: Androulla

Benefits of Using the Latest Technology

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Depending on your age you may know what a fax is. This morning my son aged 16 asked me, mum what’s a fax, as it appeared on his laptop when he went to print a document to a wireless printer. It got me laughing and at the same time thinking how far we have come with technology, its accessibility and having the capability of doing things differently.

I know sometimes we resist new technology and ways of doing things because our first instinct might be that it’s too hard and I have to learn something new that I don’t have the time for. Rather than thinking of short-term pain think of the long-term rewards of implementing some all of the latest technology that is available to us.

These days you can run your own business remotely and from any location. You can have access to all your documents through systems like Dropbox and Google Drive. A lot of the software available is cloud-base, so you can log on to any computer to access your work or even on your phone.

You can even send an invoice to a customer and get paid within minutes with the use of cloud-based accounting software like Xero, the use of emails and internet banking.

Internet banking has changed the way we do things. Why spend time driving to the bank, standing in line to make a transaction and then having to drive back to the office, when you can do all this within minutes online. A customer can now pay you within minutes of you sending an invoice that also has the benefit of improving your cashflow.

Below is a diagram that demonstrates how the use of technology can speed up the process.

In a world where people have a ‘now’ rather than ‘later’ mentality, who are looking for convenience and want things at the touch of their fingers, I want you to think about your business and some of the limitations you have because of the latest technology not being used.

The time it takes to get things done can be considerably cut down, giving you more time to do the things you keep saying you don’t have time for. It also gives you the added advantage to meet timelines and could be a selling point in your service delivery. For example, a fast-food chain guaranteeing a 30-minute delivery of it’s free. In some industries it is specified in the contract that each day a project goes beyond the agreed date, a penalty fee is applied.

Thinks about how can you use the latest technology to improve processes and save you time as well as being more flexible with how you do business.

P.S. When you are ready, reach out and we can discuss the processes within your business to increase your efficiency and turnaround time.

EmpowerBeyond – Business Performance Solutions, focusing on people, process, products and services and improving productivity and cash flow www.empowerbeyond.com.au

Ask for Help – Video

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Today I wanted to talk about the importance of asking for help and also tapping into your network.

Very recent, I’ve had someone reach out to me that I’ve known for 18 years and she had seen the work that I have been doing with small business. She wanted to get her business online.

She wasn’t sure if I was the right person, but through our conversation, we’ve been able to get her business up and running and through my network we’ve been able to help her through the technical side of things.

So what I encourage you guys to do is start asking for help and tap into your network. I’m sure you have many people that you know that have got a skillset that can support you in your business. I’m available to have a conversation to see whether there is something I can help you with or lead you in the right direction or share with you some of the people that I know that can potentially help you.

You don’t have to do this alone.  The last thing you want to be doing is trying to figure this out, and time goes by and it could be months or years later that you’re still in the same position.

So now is a better time than ever, especially with where we find ourselves. For some we are working from home, are limited from actually working from the office or our usual place of work. So use this time to work on your business and tap into your networks and ask for that help.

EmpowerBeyond – Business Performance Solutions, focusing on people, process, products and services and improving productivity and cash flow www.empowerbeyond.com.au

Work ON the Business – Video

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A conversation that’s been coming up with business slowing down has been, what do I work on while my doors are closed?

Even though the doors may be closed the back end of the business is still open. This is the time to work through the tasks you have been meaning to do but keep putting off.

The video goes into more detail, here are some points:

  • Create a short-term plan
  • Review your expenses
  • Get up to date with your numbers
  • Work on designing or creating products or service
  • Work on marketing
  • Update your skill set on programs or software you already use
  • Explore new online tools you can implement into the business
  • Clean the office/work environment

What will you be working ON in your business this week?

EmpowerBeyond – Business Performance Solutions, focusing on people, process, products and services and improving productivity and cash flow www.empowerbeyond.com.au

Overwhelm – Video

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Hi guys, it’s Androulla here and I just want to share one word with you, OVERWHELM. Does that resonate with you? You may be feeling this right now or you felt it in the last couple of days. Well, you’re not alone.

Look, there’s a lot of business owners out there that are feeling overwhelmed with all the tasks that they need to do, all the bits and pieces and some of you may actually be working on certain projects that need to be done as well. Well guys, you’re not alone and I’m going to share with you how you can overcome this. I mean I’m on a mission to help all business owners become more productive with their time, get more done and to grow their business.

You see, every minute and every second to me needs to count. It’d be crazy to see how I’ve got me calendar and I know I tell you from back 2, 3, 4 years ago what I was doing on a specific day. Now that’s a bit detail, but let me just share with you one technique that you can start using in your business to help reduce the overwhelm and get things done.

So you either need to grab a piece o paper or if you have a written calendar or diary grab that and go to the page, it’s currently today’s date and what I want you to do is start writing down what are the TOP 3 things that you want to achieve today. Write them down, and if you like write down how long they’re going to take.

Now as you’re doing this you’re probably thinking, oh gosh Androulla, there’s so many other thing I need to do. Okay, so what we need to do is put them in your calendar. Write them down, so maybe turn the page and put them on to another date and what we’ve done is we’ve basically brain dumped our tasks and noted it.

Yes, we acknowledge they/re there, but we’re not going to address them right now and that’s the key thing guys. Once you’ve taken them out of your head, you can let go of that and just start focusing on the things that you need to do today.

Now another thing I want you to do is once you work through the day, grab a green highlighter and highlight them the tasks that you have completed. One thing that we sometimes forget to do is do the reflection side of things.

So at the end of the day, I want you to look at how did the day go, how much did you accomplish and if you didn’t accomplish what you wanted to, what was standing in your way? Be mindful of this and then approach the next day differently if you need to. So take this on board for yourself.

Let me  know how you go. I’d love to hear some of your wins and what you were challenged with. But guess what guys, overwhelm is going to happen for many of us, it’s just how we choose to deal with it that makes all the difference.

Let’s make every minute count. So start writing, start getting things done and then celebrate at the end of the day.

EmpowerBeyond – Business Performance Solutions, focusing on people, process, products and services and improving productivity and cash flow www.empowerbeyond.com.au

Revenue Calculation – Video

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Today I wanted to talk about revenue or sales or turnover. So it’s what income or what money your products and services bring in for you.

Now with the new year fast approaching, I thought it would be relevant for you to start planning out what is that number you want to achieve. So normally what I would say is, think about what the full year number is going to be and you’re probably thinking, Andoulla how do I determine this?

Well, look at what you’ve achieved in the past and say to yourself, is this what I want to achieve moving forward. If it’s not then set a realistic goal for yourself. Now you might add a certain percentage or whatever suits you but it’s got to be realistic. You know what, push the boundaries a little bit and who knows you might actually achieve it.

But then the question is, Androulla I know what I want to achieve as a turnover but how do I go about doing this? Well, let’s break this down for you right now. What you’ve got to consider are the products and services that you offer your customers or clients. You might have 2 or 3 of those products and you also know which one is performing really well. So what you do is, you start breaking those down and saying, well how many of those products or service am I going to sell over the year.

Then what we do is we break it down by months and so this is critical here where you have to factor in two things:

1. Is your product or service seasonal? So depending on what you’re offering, there may be certain months where you’re going to have peaks and then you’re going to have troughs.

2. When you take holidays. If your product or service is depending on you being there, then when you’re taking time off, you need to consider that in those times sales might drop.

So to recap, number one is setting a high-level target for the year. Number two is deciding which of those products and service that you’re going to provide and what is the pricing for each of those. Number three is breaking that down month by month to know when those sales are going to occur.

Now, how do you do this, what platform do you use? To start off with what I suggest is getting a blank piece of paper and doing those three steps I just mentioned. The other platform you can use is Excel, it’s free. Enter your products and services, the quantity, the pricing and it will calculate the actual dollars in total for you. 

EmpowerBeyond – Business Performance Solutions, focusing on people, process, products and services and improving productivity and cash flow www.empowerbeyond.com.au

Document Your Standard Processes

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In business, I’m sure you have many tasks that need to be completed. Sometimes the tasks are completed consistently, and other times not so consistently due to certain factors. For example, following up on leads.

Some reasons for not consistently following up on leads could be due to:

  • Not having the time
  • Not sure what to say or offer – what to cover in a follow up call
  • Being afraid of getting  “No thanks.”
  • No standards set up as to when a follow up needs to be made (time frame)

Setting standard processes around tasks will provide the following benefits:

  • Increase consistency
  • Set expectations for yourself and other in your business
  • Reduce procrastination and time wasting
  • Delivering a product or service to the standard you expect
  • Cross training others in your business

So what tasks should you create a standard process for? A standard process can be created for tasks that are performed more than once.

Make a list of tasks completed daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly.

Examples of tasks performed in your business could be:

  • Following up leads
  • Running a weekly sales meeting
  • Adding new leads to the database
  • Creating a quote
  • Invoicing a client

Start with bullet pointing each step of the process and then create the content for each bullet point. Make sure to add timelines in the steps where it’s valid so that the question of “when do I do this? is answered. You can also add diagrams as visuals that can clarity steps as well as checklists.

Make it your intention to create at least one standard process for your business each week. 

EmpowerBeyond – Business Performance Solutons, focusing on people, process, products and services and improving productivity and cash flow www.empowerbeyond.com.au