Declutter Your Small Business: 5 Smart Tips to Score More Joy & Profit
By Fran Kruse, Website & Blog Writer
Sidekick Creative Copywriting Services
https://www.sidekickcreative.ca/
It’s September. The leaves are turning colour, and the end of 2022 is fast approaching.
The changing season is a great time to review your core goals, reassess any roadblocks and reorganize your small business to finish the year strong.
Here are five pro tips to help you declutter your business so you’re more efficient, happy and profitable.
Declutter Your Services & Products
Are you offering services you have no passion for and are time-draining and overwhelming to do? Turf these services and only provide those which are enjoyable and a natural fit for your abilities.
Eliminate services or products that are not in high demand and only produce sporadic or little income. Instead, concentrate on the offerings that keep the bills paid and add to your bottom line.
Also, look at the number of services and products you’re offering. Too many balls in the air may slow your productivity, shrink your energy, and drain your mental bandwidth.
Declutter Your Client List
Although you may love to serve and sell to everyone, not everyone is your ideal client. Some customers are not the best fit. They’re a time and energy waster, and often you’re not adequately compensated for your expertise or work effort.
Drop unprofitable clients, so you’re focused on making room and attracting customers who appreciate your skills and abilities.
Declutter Your Operations
You’re inclined to do it all yourself as a small business owner. But to grow, there comes the point when you need to recognize the limits of your time, energy and talents.
Delegate or outsource any task that you dread and put off doing. Others, like a staff member, freelancer, remote worker or virtual assistant, can easily accomplish the work in half the time it would take you.
Outsourcing your bookkeeping, social media marketing, sales support, and administrative duties frees you up to concentrate on what you do best.
Declutter Your Workspace
Scattered client files, meeting notes, unpaid bills, junk mail, office supplies and sticky notes everywhere cause stress and impact your motivation and productivity.
Organize your desk drawers, label shelves or cabinets for easy filing, purchase a paper shredder for confidential documents, and arrange daily items and files for quick access.
Create flow and feel in control by clearing and cleaning your work area daily and weekly.
Declutter Your Digital World
Digital junk is also time-sucking and mentally draining.
Review and unsubscribe from all unwanted e-newsletters, retail emails, social media groups, and multiple news feeds.
Move files off your desktop and organize them in relevant folders using a consistent file naming framework, making them easy to find.
Go through your browser bookmarks to delete and reorganize.
Clear your download folder and delete old emails in your inbox and spam folder.
Uninstall apps and software you don’t need or use and turn off cell phone notifications.
Final Thoughts
You may initially feel overwhelmed and view decluttering your small business as impossible. But nothing is impossible if you chunk it down by undertaking one project at a time over a few days or weeks.
A good trick to overcome procrastination is to say to yourself, “I’ll do this for 10-minutes only.” You’ll find that once you start, you’ll continue working well past the ten-minute mark, and the job will get done in no time.
You’ll gain control, peace of mind, happy clients, and increased sales by eliminating and streamlining your processes and systems. And just imagine your renewed self-confidence!