5 Productivity Tips for New Business Owners

Tips for new business owners who want to improve their business

Ask some new business owners how many tips they have received so far, and they will tell you, a whole lot! Ask them how they are doing with all the tips they have received, many of them will tell you, not so well.

Let’s see if you are in this camp.

You started a new business and you are ready to get to work to make it successful. However, you are finding things much harder than you expected, and you are not getting much done.

You feel a little bit dispirited but you know there’s got to be a better way. You just need to find it.

Does this sound like you? If it does, all hope is not lost. There’s always a way to make things better.

If you are reading this post, chances are you will come away with a better understanding of how to boost your productivity and get more done in your business.

Are you eady to see a change in your life and business? Let’s get started!

Please note that this post may contain affiliate links. You can read my full disclosure at the top of the page.

1. SET REASONABLE GROWTH GOALS

Yes, you are probably tired of hearing about goal setting, but I am afraid you are going to hear about it one more time.

There’s a reason people talk a lot about goal setting, it is because it is one of the best ways to stay focused. Without goals, you are kind of rudderless. You will find yourself wandering around with no clue what your priorities are.

Without goals, you will jump from one idea to the other until you eventually run out of ideas or give up.

If you want to be productive as a new business owner, do yourself a favor and set some reasonable growth goals. Having some goals to shoot for will help you stay focused and boost your productivity.

Lots of new business owners struggle with staying focused. To be fair, new business owners are not the only ones who struggle with staying focused. It takes discipline and knowing your priorities to stay focused. But it can be done if you work on it.

So, if you ask me, one of my best tips for new entrepreneurs is to set goals.

Set reasonable goals that you know you can achieve within a short period of time. Having some small wins at the beginning of your journey is good for your morale. So, think about some things you’d like to achieve and come up with a plan to achieve them.

Here are some examples of reasonable growth goals for new business owners:

Create a business plan.
Create a marketing plan.
Get your first 10 or 50 customers.
Understand search engine optimization.
Gain a better understanding of your customers and their needs.
Keep expenses low.
Create 50 new pieces of content for your blog.

The goals I listed above are reasonable and most new business owners can achieve them. Setting out your goals like this makes it easy to stay focused on growing your business.

So, if you haven’t set some goals for your business, take some time out do to that. This exercise should only take a few minutes. So don’t delay!

2. FOCUS ON THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS

Want to really boost your productivity? Learn how to prioritize and focus on the most important things in your business.

As a new business owner, you are going to be time-challenged, and if you are not careful, you are going to let a lot of things slip. Yes, that includes a lot of important things. The only way to avoid this problem is to create a priority list.

A priority list is an easy way to categorize your tasks after you have identified your business goals.

As a small business owner, you are going to have to accept that you can’t do everything or get to everything. Once you accept that, then your approach to your business tasks will change.

Focus on the things that will make you money or grow your business. All other tasks are secondary.

Your productivity will increase if you can streamline your activities and spend more time on your priorities.

Note that a lot of things you consider important or a priority really aren’t. If it doesn’t help you generate an income eventually, it is probably not as important as you think.

Your priority list should be dominated by income-generating activities. Of course, there are tasks that won’t help you generate revenue on their own but they should relate to other tasks that do.

So, take some time to make a list of your priorities and income-generating tasks. After creating a list, start prioritizing them.

If you need help figuring out what you should focus on in your new business, check out the New Business Growth Checklist. It is free, so go ahead and grab your copy below.

3. TIPS FOR NEW BUSINESS OWNERS: CREATE A LEARNING PLAN

You can’t grow your business if you stop learning. There’s a lot to learn about entrepreneurship, but the problem is lots of new entrepreneurs go about their learning the wrong way.

Business or blogging education is an important part of running a business, but it is pointless to spend so much money learning something if you are not going to apply it to your business.

Lots of business owners invest in tools, courses, or other products but they never utilize any of the knowledge they gained. What’s even worse is that some never even complete some of the material they bought before jumping into something else.

Unless you have a lot of money to waste, this is not a very good approach and is a waste of time.

So, instead of jumping from topic to topic, spending hours researching business tips, or reading blog posts with no plan or purpose, create a learning plan. A learning plan is basically a list of all the topics you want to learn about, the resources you want to use, how learning that topic will benefit you and your business, and a time frame for starting and completing the learning.

That’s pretty simple, isn’t it?

You will save lots of time and money if you create a learning plan and stick to it. And, of course, you will be more productive as a result. The key is don’t try to learn too many things at once.

4. HAVE A CONSISTENT SCHEDULE

One of the best tips I can offer to new business owners is to be consistent.

Consistency will take you a long way in your business. Just showing up and putting in the work (of course, with a plan and purpose), will accelerate your growth like nothing else will.

I know many business owners struggle to be consistent because they have other responsibilities. Lots of business owners also work full-time and are starting their business on the side. While that’s a valid reason for not being consistent, if you want your business to be something other than a hobby, you will need some kind of consistency.

Consistency doesn’t mean working on your business from 8-5 every day. Consistency is having a set or regular schedule that you keep. This can be daily or weekly. For instance, working on your business for one hour before you go to work, or staying up to work on your business for a couple of hours after work.

It doesn’t really matter what your schedule looks like. What is important is that you find a way to be consistent. Have a consistent schedule for all the important tasks like marketing, selling, or creating new content.

You can’t grow or make much progress without being consistent. So, if you are really struggling with your business, take a look at how consistent you have been. If consistency is a problem for you, then you will need to address that so you can achieve your goals.

5. PLAN YOUR DAYS AND WEEKS

Lack of planning is one of the main reasons entrepreneurs struggle with lack of productivity. When you don’t have a plan for the day or week, time just seems to fly away with not much to show for it.

If you end each day with most items still on your to-do list, and you keep wondering where the time went, it’s possible you are not doing a good job managing your time.

Good time management is essential for new business owners (for everyone really). And, good time management begins with having a plan for the day.

When you know how you want to spend your day or week, it’s actually easy to get things done.

You don’t have to plan or account for every second of the day, but you should have a clear idea and a list of things you want to do each day.

Whether it’s marketing your business, promoting your content, product creation, or something else, having a plan is the best way to ensure you actually follow through.

Final thoughts on productivity tips for new business owners

One of your goals as a new business owner is to be as productive as you can. The more productive you are, the faster you can grow your business.

There are lots of ways to boost your productivity including setting goals, focusing on the right tasks, being consistent, planning your days and weeks, and creating a learning plan.

Avoid busy work as much as possible. Before you engage in any task, make sure that the task serves a useful purpose and will help you achieve your business goals.

Are you a new business owner? Do you think you are as productive as you should be? Let me know in the comments.

Want an easy way to organize and grow your new business? Check out the New Business Success Kit. This kit is a set of 12 different printables that will help you plan and organize your business strategies. You can get it at a discount during the intro period. Check it out now!

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