TAKING IT FURTHER

This last chapter has some final tips and practical tools for your day-to-day life as an entrepreneur or future entrepreneur. Go ahead and use them if they inspire you !

TIME MANAGEMENT FOR ENTREPRENEURS

Time is money. This well-known saying is particularly true for entrepreneurs. The multitude of tasks and activities they have to personally manage makes time management absolutely essential to ensuring the business development process runs smoothly.

THE EIGHT GOLDEN RULES

1. Set a framework

Ask yourself : what is the purpose and mission of my business ? It is important to give your activities a framework and to stick to it. You run a serious risk of spreading yourself too thinly if you undertake tasks that have nothing to do with your field of activity.

2. Do the things that add value

The 20/80 rule says that you should focus on the 20% of activities that are most essential to your business, because they generate 80% of the positive results. It is very tempting to focus on the activities you like doing and leave the ones you don’t. So you need to concentrate on the activities that add value.

3. Prioritise tasks

Make a list of the tasks for each week and classify them according to their importance and urgency. Urgent/important tasks should be number 1, less important tasks number 2, etc. To increase efficiency, do each task in one go and start with what you enjoy doing the least.

4. Identify time-stealing factors

There are many things that steal your time and energy – computers, travel, meetings, colleagues, and so on. Analyse how you spend your time and identify the time-stealing factors to counteract them.

5. Learn to say no

Not saying yes to anything and everything saves invaluable time. However, you must evaluate the request and the benefit of doing the task. It is essential that you make the person asking understand that your refusal is due to a lack of time and not a lack of interest.

6. Plan your time

It is essential to plan your activities. An efficient schedule should consist of 60% planned activities and 40% free time to handle the unexpected.

7. Be disciplined

This is probably the most difficult rule to implement. You yourself are your biggest time waster. You will have to take a good look at yourself and change your habits.

8. Get organised

Putting all these rules into practice requires a certain amount of rigour and good organisation. Tools such as Outlook and Excel allow you to optimally manage and coordinate your tasks and appointments.

KNOW YOUR LIMITS

It is important to know your limits and set yourself ambitious but realistic goals. You also need to identify all the sources of time wasting and distraction: instant messaging, checking your emails too often, too many discussions with colleagues, etc. Good time management inevitably requires discipline.

Use the NERAC* method to manage and monitor your tasks and activities

N Note down your tasks and activities E Estimate how long they will take R Reserve some time for the unexpected A Adjudicate activities by priority, urgency and importance C Check the progress of tasks and carry over the unfinished ones

* A French-language time management system

10 GOOD REASONS TO CREATE YOUR START-UP

Congratulations! You’ve found that innovative idea you can start your own business with. But at some point you have to take the plunge and jump into the deep end of entrepreneurship. Not sure if you dare to do it? Here are ten top reasons why you should.

1. Be your own boss

Who hasn’t had this dream ? The power to make all your own decisions about the future of your business is the opportunity – and also the responsibility – that the entrepreneurial adventure offers you.

6. Choose your co-workers

You are the one who selects your employees, partners and suppliers – and you can make sure you only work with the right ones !

2. Make your dream a reality

With a start-up, you’ll be able to bring your idea to life and embark on a fabulous adventure you can commit to entirely.

7. Do what you love

Setting up your own company guarantees that you will be doing what you love, at least most of the time – you still can't escape the paperwork.

3. Escape the 9-to-5 grind

As the head of your own business, you’ll have a lot of freedom to organise your working hours. No more fixed routines! Of course, to start with, you’ll need to put in a lot of hours in order to validate your project and get started in your target market. But, since you will be passionate about the subject and will be working for yourself, the time will fly by !

8. Enjoy unprecedented support

You’re not in this adventure on your own. Whenever you want, you can get the support of organisations and institutions whose job it is to help you in your work as an entrepreneur. They can provide you with coaching and targeted assistance, specific guidance and experience sharing. Naturally, The Ark Incubator is a leading exponent.

4. Rapid response time

Everything moves very fast in the world of start-ups, especially in the field of new technologies. By founding your own business, you can set your own pace and break away from the slow decision-making process that often hampers large companies.

5. Self-actualisation

Doing what you dream of, developing an idea you believe in, is an excellent way to achieve self-actualisation. Without getting into the psychology of it, creating a start-up will help to shape or strengthen your personality.

9. Extend your knowledge and experience

You will learn an exciting amount about corporate life and life in general. You'll learn all the ins and outs of being an entrepreneur, the applicable laws, how to sell your product and yourself, and much more – all very useful, whatever becomes of your start-up. Real life is the best teacher, after all.

10. You could found the next Facebook

If a start-up is based on a strong, original idea, it can enjoy rapid and remarkable success. We couldn't wish for more for you than to be the founder of the next Google or Facebook. But, to have a chance of succeeding, you have to dare ... dare to take the plunge into the great ocean of entrepreneurship. What are you waiting for ?

ENTREPRENEURIAL TOOLS

WEB TOOLS THAT CAN MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER

Which are the most useful web tools for an entrepreneur? The tools below are all available on the internet, and most of them are free to use. They have been created to simplify the daily management of a business. Whether it's managing social media, monitoring your company's online reputation, managing tasks and notes, sending newsletters, creating a dynamic business presentation, creating an online business plan or anything else, the internet offers multifarious tools that meet the needs and expectations of the many entrepreneurs of this world.

Here are a few :

• Awario lets you monitor your online reputation using specific keywords. (https://awario.com/) Free

• Bit.ly is a URL shortener. (http://bitly.com) Free

• Buffer helps you build an audience on social media and beyond. (http://buffer.com) Basic version free

• Canva lets you create presentations, posters and visual content for social media. (www.canva.com) Basic version free

• CleverReach lets you organise email campaigns and schedule newsletters. (www.clever-reach.com) Basic version free

• Domainr checks which domain names are available for your website. (https://domainr.com/) Free

• Easel.ly is a tool for creating infographics. (www.easel.ly) Free

• Enloop can help you design your business plan and share it with users for feedback. (http://enloop.com) Basic version free

• Evernote replaces your post-it notes and lets you share your ideas with your colleagues. (http://evernote.com) Basic version free

• Expensify is an expense management system. (www.expensify.com) Basic version free

• Flipboard helps you to discover and share the stories that interest you. (http://flipboard.com) Free

• Followerwonk analyses your presence on Twitter. (www.followerwonk.com) Basic version free

• Froont lets you mock up responsive landing pages and publications. (http://froont.com) Basic version free

• Gimp is a free visual creation tool. (www.gimp.org) Free

• Google Docs lets you store all kinds of files and access them from anywhere in the world. (http://docs. google.com) Free

• Hootsuite is a dashboard for managing social media. (http://hootsuite.com) Basic version free

• Jumpchart lets you create mockups for your website and collaborate with your team on the different pages. (https://jumpchart.com/) Free

• LastPass is a password manager that saves your passwords online and keeps them secure. (https://www.lastpass.com/) Free

• NoCRM.io is a lead management software that tracks your sales and simplifies your order processing. (https://youdontneedacrm.com/) Free

• RescueTime measures time spent on digital devices and the internet and helps improve productivity. (https://www.rescuetime.com/) Free

• StartMyStory is a French SaaS that guides you through the creation of your business plan. (https://www.startmystory.fr/) Free

• Wix helps you to easily create your own website. (https://wix.com/) Free

• Youseemii analyses your company’s presence on the internet and social media, and presents a complete overview of all the tweets and publications about you. (http://www.youseemii.fr/) Basic version free

Retrouvez plus de 200 outils sur notre portail gratuit des outils web www.theark.ch/en/outils et en tout temps avec le hashtag #outilentrepreneur.