5 Ways to Grow Your Business Without Losing Your Time

Time is money and money is time. The things you do every day should be making you money. While this blog will not make you money directly, it will help you decide if you are using your time wisely. Anyone can wake up and be busy, but are you truly busy?

Tip 1: Listen to customer feedback. It’s time you stop ignoring those Facebook reviews and other customer surveys. Jay Baer believes you have to hug your haters. Stop ignoring them and start listening.   

Tip 2: Work smarter not harder. As a business owner, you can’t do everything. Outsource or hire employees for duties like payroll, marketing, sales, and general administrative work.  As an owner, it is your job to make sure every minute you have is spent on the correct things.

Tip 3: Solicit word-of-mouth referrals and online reviews. These can separate you from your competitors. You need to ask some of your best customers for positive feedback and have them write up a Facebook review about your business page. This is important because 88 percent of people trust online reviews written by other consumers as much as they trust recommendations from personal contacts.

Tip 4: Automation: We live in an era of amazing technology! Automating some of your day to day business operations could be one way you get 2 to 3 hours back in a week. Just a handful of things that you could be automating include: E-mail, social media profiles (be careful), pulling website data (google analytics), and customer support to name a few.

Tip 5: Get Involved With Your Community: Get involved with your community and give back, which shows people how you care about others and not just your business. Find local organizations like Kiwanis, BNI groups, or check with your local chamber of commerce and see how you can get involved there. Just remember, though, time is money and money is time. Joining those groups can be great, but make sure you have a purpose.