Keep Your Business Organized to Save Time and Money

There are so many particulars involved in running your own business that being organized is not an option, it’s an absolute must. Good organization isn’t just a matter of keeping your desk clean. You must also be able to find what you need when you need it, be aware of what is coming up, and be able to move smoothly from one task to the next. In order to become and stay organized, you will need to develop your own organizational system using the tools that work best for you, a calendaring system that is accurate and accessible, and a to-do system that will keep you on track and efficient.

There is no "right" way to get organized because different systems work for different people. This is why there are dozens of different organizational systems, self-help books, and full-time consultants available at any given time. If you are like most people, you have probably tried one or more of the trendy organizational systems for a time and found yourself less and less committed to it over time. In most cases, this occurs because some piece or pieces of the set program don’t work for you, either because the way it is done doesn’t fit your personality and way of thinking or because your priorities do not align with the design of the organizational system.

The purpose of an organizational system is to help you identify what needs to be done at any given time and plan to accomplish those tasks as efficiently and productively as possible. As a business owner, your organizational system must include a plan and tools for organizing all of the documentation and information required for your business, for organizing both your professional and personal life, and for setting an organizational standard for your staff. Even if you are starting out by yourself, the habits you set now will have a significant impact on the culture of your company as you grow.

Internal Organizational Tools

Your business requires sufficient tools to keep all systems and information organized. Your accounting and contact management software are excellent tools to provide your organizational foundation, but the paperwork to back up those systems must be logically arranged and accessible as well. Identify the furniture your business needs, including file cabinets and other file systems. Be sure the system you select is effective for your habits and personality. Organizational systems are only effective if you actually use it as designed. As your venture is up and running, it will be clearer which types of paperwork will be needed most often and which only need to be saved just in case. The more likely you are to need to retrieve an item, the more effort should go into filing it in an easily retrievable location.

Your accounting system organizes and records all of your business’s financial information. It is critical to set up your accounts correctly from the start and to accurately record all transactions in a timely manner. In fact, checking the books should be on your daily schedule. Depending on your business, you may want to run sales or expense reports, inventory spot checks, or any other accounting task that is most likely to be a problem every day. When you find errors (and you will), it is important to fix them correctly -- by actually finding the balancing error. If you just add or subtract a few dollars each time to make it balance, you will end up with grossly inaccurate financial statements over time. Most software will allow you to make changes as needed, but if you don’t balance both debit and credit accounts, the extra will go into a separate account reserved for unbalanced amounts. That account will show on your financial statements and any banker or investor who reviews your reports will want to know why it is there. Your best bet is to reconcile all errors as soon as possible.

Contact management software is an excellent tool for keeping your customer, vendor, and networking information organized. Keep up with your database by scheduling monthly checks. You can clean your list by ensuring there are no repeated contact entries and marking anyone who has requested to be off your mailing list. It is better to leave those entries in and mark them as unusable rather than deleting them because you will not accidently re-add them later. Contact management software also helps you keep in touch with your networking contacts by allowing you to enter your last few interactions with each of them. You can sort the list of contacts, see who you need to contact, and keep in touch with important contacts in just a few minutes per month.

For your business documents, you may elect to use hanging files, vertical files, 3-ring binders, or even digital storage. Be sure the system you choose will cover most of your business’s priorities. File folders tend to still be the default, although many business owners find them difficult to keep organized. With file folders, the documents are less likely to be correctly ordered and misfiling is common. Typically, it is more difficult to retrieve a specific document from file folders and they tend to become overfilled rather quickly. 3-ring binders are effective for keeping a large volume of related materials together and accessible. Digitizing your documents is space and time efficient, as long as you develop an easy-to-use filing system by creating clearly titled files, folders and sub-folders to organize the data.

Select a daily planner that is flexible enough to allow you to customize it to fit your needs. Everyone has multiple priorities -- work, family, extracurriculars -- and it is very difficult to keep those lives completely separate. Don’t assume any particular time-management system should work for you, regardless of how effective they claim to be. There are a million “right” ways to manage your time, and as long as you create a system that keeps you on track and out of the weeds, you are good to go. If you have particular trouble with time-management, look for a calendar system that is completely customizable (the Uncalendar by People Systems, Inc. is an excellent choice). Try out various methods until you find the one that works best for you, then use it!

Using a calendaring system is an absolute must for small business owners. There are so many different aspects to keep up with and so many dates and deadlines to remember that they must be written down and effectively organized to keep any entrepreneur on track. Avoid selecting an undersized planner. Most entrepreneurs ultimately agree that a full-size (81/2 x 11) time-management system ends up like an extra appendage -- they don’t leave home without it. A planner in a 3-ring notebook is great for startup as you can keep the various papers organized when you are on the go.

Whatever tools you choose to keep you and your business organized, make sure they work for you and fit with your intended culture. Don’t hesitate to make changes if any part isn’t working -- the cost of organizational tools will more than pay for themselves in the time they will save.

Time Management

Time management is another critical skill of all entrepreneurs. There is so much going on in the life of a business that you could easily find things to keep you busy 24/7. Don’t let that happen lest you should burn out too quickly. Use your Planner to schedule all critical, repetitive tasks such as returning emails and phone calls, reviewing financials, and checking in with employees. Any item you actually schedule for yourself should be treated as a meeting that you can’t miss. Close your door, let the employees know you are busy for 30 minutes, and focus on the tasks you have scheduled. As a rule, these scheduled tasks should not total any more than 30% of your planned workweek -- 15 hours in a 50 hour workweek.

The rest of your to-do list should be organized and useful. Using a Ten List system can keep you from feeling overwhelmed. As you complete each list of ten, refill the list. Not only will you feel a greater sense of accomplishment, you will also likely get more done. The human brain can only manage about 5 or 6 ideas at once, so keeping a list of 75 items in front of you tends to result in reading and rereading the items, time that could be better used actually completing one! Consider selecting similar items to be completed simultaneously, and be sure to select tasks in order of priority.

If you find to-do items that are languishing on your list, evaluate the reasons they are not getting done. Does it actually need to be done? Can you delegate it to someone else? Does it take to long to complete during a regular workday? If so, determine whether you can break it down into multiple tasks or is you need to set aside a large block of time after hours or on the weekend to work through it. Whatever you do, don’t let a task remain on your list for more than two weeks -- you will just feel anxious every time you look at it.

Once you have employees, be careful not to spend all of your time micro-managing. This is an easy mistake to make because you know exactly how you want things done, but you have to train them well and trust that the overall objectives will be met. Set yourself a schedule for your general workday, leaving about 70% of your workweek open for handling the inevitable issues that come up. Learn to evaluate the level of actual emergency in the daily fires -- if a problem can be resolved later, add it to your to-do list. If not, focus on solving the problem as quickly and painlessly as possible. Pay attention to issues that come up frequently and consider adding SOPs or regulations that will reduce their occurrence.

The key to managing your time effectively is to be aware of how you spend it. If you find yourself feeling under the gun on a daily basis, try writing down what you spend your time doing over a few days. Review your actual schedule and see where time is getting away. Usually, people are surprised to discover where they spend their time and often the results will show that you need to hire some help, delegate more tasks, or rearrange your day to minimize interruptions.

The Bottom Line

Establish effective organizational and time-management systems and be diligent about using them. The three tools every entrepreneur should have are a filing system for paper documents, a calendaring system, and contact management software. Be aware of how you are spending your time. Spend a few minutes every morning and evening reviewing your day and preparing for the next. Don’t burn yourself out and remember, entrepreneurship is a marathon, not a sprint!