Running a small business requires grit, dedication, and a lot of hard work. There may be times when you have so much to do but feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day.

You likely have an overarching business plan that covers your products and services, marketing tactics, and an annual budget. But have you ever considered adopting a similar strategic approach to time management?

By treating time management like any other business priority, you can better allocate hours to your most important tasks and make your schedule more manageable. This guide will help you develop a time management plan and focus on your most pressing needs.

1. Prioritize valuable tasks.

Simply categorizing your work based on what’s most important can help you reserve time for your top priorities. While you may have an idea of your most crucial tasks in mind, writing them down provides a physical reminder of what’s truly vital and allows you to plan accordingly.

A popular way to prioritize tasks is to use the Eisenhower Matrix, which sorts tasks based on their urgency and importance. Urgent tasks require immediate attention, and important tasks help you achieve your long-term goals. Here’s what your Eisenhower Matrix might look like:

• Urgent and important tasks. Complete these tasks as soon as possible. An urgent and important task may be something like restocking a top-selling product on a prime business day or handling a serious customer complaint.
• Important and not urgent tasks. While you must complete these tasks, you don’t need to do them immediately. Schedule them for later. For example, analyzing last month’s sales reports to help you make future inventory decisions would fall into this category.

• Urgent and not important tasks. This category refers to tasks that someone must complete immediately, but since they don’t require your specific expertise, you can delegate them to another team member. If you’re running a weekly sale and need to update pricing information on your shelves and website, that would be an urgent and not important task.
• Not urgent and not important tasks. Activities with no urgency or importance waste your team’s time. Recognize these tasks and eliminate them from your schedule. For example, if your stockroom is already well-organized, there’s no need to reorganize using a different system if the current arrangement works well for your team.

Whether you create your matrix on paper or in a spreadsheet, correctly categorizing your tasks empowers you to make smarter decisions about how to spend your time.

2. Block your schedule.

Upgrade your to-do lists by assigning a specific time to each task in your calendar. By scheduling tasks like meetings, you dedicate attention to each priority and avoid forgetting about anything important.

Group similar types of work together to keep yourself focused. For example, let’s say you’re looking to expand your corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. Double the Donation explains that there are various ways to enhance CSR, such as:

• Offering competitive wages and benefits packages
• Participating in workplace giving programs
• Supporting philanthropic causes
• Using recycled materials
• Reducing carbon emissions

Instead of setting up different time slots for different CSR-related activities, you may schedule a time block each week in which you consider how to upgrade your CSR strategy. One week, you may look into setting up your business for matching gift eligibility, while another week, you may research switching to a more sustainable packaging option. Just ensure you leave enough buffer time between each individual task in case something takes longer than expected.

3. Use the “Eat the Frog” method.

The “Eat the Frog” method refers to tackling your largest, hardest, or most important task first thing in the morning. Before your work day ends, identify your “frog,” or the task you’re most likely to avoid the next day. Then, schedule this task first thing in the morning so you can “eat” it (or complete it) accordingly.

People find success with this approach because it:

• Prevents procrastination
• Provides a clear goal to accomplish
• Gives you momentum to handle other tasks
• Makes the rest of the day feel easier

For example, perhaps you need to review your monthly profit and loss statement. Completing this task first thing in the morning empowers you to analyze your financial situation, understand your profit margins, and identify areas where you’re overspending — allowing you to make more informed financial decisions throughout the day and week.

4. Automate repetitive tasks.

Use technology strategically to handle time-consuming tasks for you. Automation reduces manual errors and saves your team time. For example, you may use automation for:

• Inventory management. Bottle POS explains that the best inventory management systems automate the purchase order creation and receiving process. They can detect when you’re running low on a popular product, automatically generate a purchase order, and update your stock records when new inventory arrives.

• Marketing and communications. Run automated email campaigns to engage customers without having to think about it. For example, when someone hasn’t made a purchase in a while, you may automate an email that welcomes them back to your store with a discount. You can also schedule social media posts and text messages.
• Financial management. With the right accounting software, you can automatically import transactions, categorize recurring transactions, schedule bill payments, calculate payroll taxes, and develop financial reports.

While automation can always help you save time, it’s especially useful during peak seasons. For instance, a liquor store may heavily rely on automated inventory management during football season to ensure it is well-stocked with its most popular beers.

5. Centralize business data.

Searching for information across different software solutions wastes time. Adopt a centralized point of sale (POS) system for a single source of truth that stores all important business data. Top POS systems will have features like:

• Inventory management tools
• Secure payment processing
• Reporting and analytics
• Marketing tools
• Industry-specific features, such as age verification, table management, or appointment scheduling

Additionally, look for a solution that integrates with the tools you already use for seamless data transfers. Integrated platforms help you make stronger, quicker data-driven decisions that ultimately lead to higher customer satisfaction and a positive business reputation.

Test out these ideas to see what works for your business, and refine them as needed. By saving time on manual processes, you’ll be able to dedicate more energy to serving your customers, growing your store, and increasing your profit.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kevin Patel

With 20 years in retail — 10 in the liquor industry — Kevin Patel has seen it all. A liquor store owner himself, Kevin wants to give other small business owners the technology to compete with big box stores. With this mission in mind, he founded Bottle POS in 2018 and serves as the VP of Product.

Kevin writes extensively about profits, marketing, and inventory management — three topics he believes every liquor store owner should learn about.

“I built Bottle POS to make enterprise tools, mobile inventory, and cloud technology affordable so independent stores can compete with big chains.”