As one person doing everything yourself for your business,
do you find it difficult to stay organized?
For most solopreneurs it's a case of too little and too much.
1. Too Little Space
What happens is that a home-based business often starts
small, so the space allotted to it is small. But then your business starts to
grow. The little computer desk you started with that was tucked in the corner
of the dining room may have been fine when all you had was your laptop. But it
won't do now that you have a desktop computer and multiple pieces of other
business equipment.
Soon you realize it's too inconvenient to have to get
up and go across the room every time you want to print something or scan
something. Before you know it you have stacks of projects on the floor. Next it
starts to bother you that there's no handy place to keep your daily office
supplies. These are signs it's time to get a real desk with drawers to keep
files and supplies you need at your fingertips. Add a side table for your
multifunction printer so it won't hog your desk space.
When these things happen, you also need to reconsider your
office arrangement to better accommodate what your business needs now. Perhaps
you should move the furniture around, add work surfaces and storage, or even
relocate your office from the corner of a dual-purpose room to a place of its
own.
Business growth often sneaks up on you. Just like a child
who has outgrown his clothes, your business may have outgrown its initial home.
2. Too Much Paper
It's astonishing how much paper a small business can
generate! The expanding file that used to hold your files is now bursting at
the seams. You're wasting time because you can't quickly find what you're
looking for. Customers have to wait while you locate their most recent order.
It becomes clear you need a real filing system in a real file cabinet.
To create a filing system, take the time to analyze the kinds of paper you have to deal
with. Usually, businesses need customer files, vendor files, financial files,
project files, reference files, and a few other major categories. Separate your
papers into broad categories like these and organize them into hanging files in
your cabinet. It's not necessary to sub-divide most categories too narrowly. Only when a single file reaches 20+ pages does it become easier to create a
separate file than just to flip through the papers in a single file.
Even a basic filing system like this will save you time
looking for documents and will improve your morale every time you walk into an
office that isn't cluttered with paper.
3. Too Little Time
When you're working by yourself, for yourself, the demands
on your time can be overwhelming. It's very likely you simply do not have time
do everything you want to, or even need to. As difficult as it may be, try to
accept that, and work on identifying your true priorities, which are those activities
that only you can do, and that will make your business successful. Create a
weekly schedule that specifies times reserved for these activities.
Develop relationships with other small business owners to
whom you can outsource the activities you don't have time for, aren't good at,
or don't like doing. They may be looking for someone like you to outsource
their tasks to!
Being a solopreneur has so many rewards. You enjoy flexibility,
independence, variety in your work, as well as the satisfaction of building something yourself. Learn to manage the challenge of staying
organized to enjoy it even more!
Every business is different. Comment below to tell me what YOUR greatest organizing challenges are!
Elaine Quinn is a Certified Professional Organizer specializing in helping individuals and small business owners get more done in their workspace and workday.
Google Desktop Search This free application finds documents on your own computer's hard drive just like a search engine finds information on the web.
Collectorz Intuitive, inexpensive and easy-to-use database programs that create catalogues of your personal collection of books, reference manuals, audiovisual media or digital photo files.
Roboform Log into your password-protected websites automatically with this inexpensive and secure software that memorizes your login IDs and passwords. It also fills in online forms with just one click.
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