Many small business owners start out as one-man shows. This means that you quite literally have to fulfill several different job functions at any one time. You have to be a receptionist and answer the phone, and a secretary to schedule meetings and take care of office administration. You are an accountant when keeping the books current, and a salesperson to gets your products or services out to customers. It would seem that there are always things to do and not enough time in which to do them. That is why finding ways to save time and work more efficiently can be incredibly valuable. Here are some time-saving secrets to help you:

Allocate Weekly Admin Time

Administration is one area that most small business owners are really weak in. It usually ranks at the bottom of the pile and gets put off until the 11th hour. The problem with not keeping up with admin is that it can adversely affect your business. Keeping track of sales and payments is vital for your business. Unless you know exactly how your business is doing on a weekly basis, you could be coming in at a loss without knowing it. Similarly, you need to keep on top of your payments to suppliers, as this will affect your business reputation. Keeping your admin current also saves time in the long run. By dealing with mundane things such as data capture and filing, you can make sure that you know exactly where everything is in your business. If a customer asks for a copy of an invoice, you don't need to wade through piles of paper to find it; you can easy look it up in a specific file. With your admin constantly current, you will have more time to concentrate on other aspects of your business.

Plan a Regular Strategy Session

Too many small business owners will tell you that they are too busy to plan a weekly strategy session. But it doesn't need to take up too much time. A quick 15 to 30 minute session will quickly tell you what you need to know about your business. Indeed, you might be busy but unless those efforts are translating into tangible results in the form of sales, you aren't really being very productive. A weekly strategy session can help keep you on track. It's helpful to do this as part of your weekly admin session. The difference with the strategy session is that it looks more at the big picture of where your business is headed. This includes things such as sales targets, marketing plans and other related projects or specific tactics. By checking up on your business strategies on a weekly basis, you can optimize your work efforts. If you see that one specific sales strategy isn't working, you can immediately take steps to improve it. Then rather than getting results in a month's time, you can start to get results right away. Being proactive in monitoring your strategies entails constantly looking at ways of doing things more efficiently. This can save you many precious hours of work.

Move Your Operations Online

Today, technology has in many ways leveled the playing fields in terms of business. The capability to operate online at a cost that is affordable to small businesses has given them access to markets that previously were the domain of the big budget corporations. Small business owners can save a lot of time and give their businesses a competitive advantage by using online products. For example, email and CRM systems can help you organize your calendar and keep on top of appointments and client follow-ups. There are many systems that integrate with one another allowing you access to your email, documents and files no matter where in the world you are. Tools such as online faxing can help you keep your costs low and your productivity high. You can send off documents at the click of a button without having to manually fax information to customers. Moving your operations online means that you can have your entire office in your laptop or notebook, and you can even shift it to your mobile phone. Technology today is all about making life easier, faster and more convenient. As a small business owner, you should use technology to your advantage to save you time. Operating online, you can work wherever you are, whenever it is convenient; this is a sure way to save more time in your business.