169 LIZ FLEMING – How to support you & your business

How to Support You & Your Business

with Liz Fleming The Efficiency Coach

We all know that the past 18 months have been tough for us all, especially for small businesses. I’m passionate about seeing small businesses thrive, even through these tough times with COVID. As consumers there’s a few things we can do to support local small businesses and to be mindful of the extra stresses that are being imposed on small businesses at this time.

During the most recent lockdowns I made sure I supported local businesses as much as I could, by purchasing food and necessities from local cafes and shops on a daily basis. Sharing these local shopping moments on social media has been a great way to spread the word.

Now that we are out of lockdown in Regional Victoria (for now) buying local on a daily basis should be on everyone’s ‘To-Do List’ as a priority. Actually, I’m sure there are people starting to write their Christmas Shopping Lists, so be sure to put your local shops at the top of the list. Get super organised, buy now and put them away in the cupboard. Now that’s being very efficient (as long as you don’t forget where you’ve hidden the presents). Buy the wrapping paper later!

If you’re a small business owner, we need to make sure you and your business not only survive this time but also thrive in this challenging environment. One of my main philosophies is to remember that doing business YOUR WAY is always the best way. Everyone is different, we all have different creative minds, so work out your best way and keep going.

Everybody has the same 24 hours in a day, 168 hours in a week, so it’s really important that you manage your time and energy effectively to ensure you are not rushing about trying to do everything at once. You can’t do everything and nor does anyone expect you to do everything. What is it that you need to outsource or delegate in your business?

Prioritising self-care when you’re a business owner may sound counterproductive in the first instance, but if you’re not firing on all cylinders at the start of the day, your energy will get zapped pretty quickly. On a daily and weekly basis I recommend taking some time out from the business; this may be as little as 15 minutes for activities such as meditation, yoga, daily walk, time for your favourite hobby, this will make you more productive overall.

The key is planning your day and week on a regular basis, making sure you write it down somewhere so it’s easy to find and refer to frequently. Sharing this plan with your business partners, family and staff can lead to greater efficiencies, so everyone knows what you’re up to and the priorities for the week.

Effectively communicating your clear boundaries for yourself and your business is the next step to running an efficient business. We can’t be all things to all people, we all have different roles and responsibilities in our lives that we need to manage. Setting boundaries can be as simple as setting your mobile phone to ‘do not disturb’ at night, setting automatic replies to your emails and private messages and being clear about the product and services that you DO and DO NOT offer.

Focusing on you and your business is a way of managing your own mental load, rather than worrying about what others are doing and trying to directly compete on the daily. This behaviour isn’t helpful for anyone. Yes, you do need to be aware of your competitors and changes in the market, but don’t stress about what they are doing, instead focus on your point of difference. You have your client database to draw upon, through honesty and trust, keeping them up to date with your business developments.

Recently I’ve helped clients who wanted to grow their revenue, they initially wanted to find brand new clients, instead we developed a strategy to re-engage with current and past clients to spread the word about the service offering with the aim of raising the per-client rate.

It costs more to gain new clients than re-engaging your past or current clients. Sending out a feedback request in a way that is relevant and appropriate to your business, to assess if their needs and desires have changed over time (which can be very much the case over the past few years, as habits and the way we do live has changed dramatically).

Stay efficient!

Liz Fleming The Efficiency Coach is a business mentor and accountant based in Traralgon. Liz is passionate about supporting small businesses to thrive, by utilising her skills and experience to develop processes, systems and strategies for small businesses to become more efficient.

You know how there are never enough hours in the day and you don’t know where to start, Liz will show you how to maximise your time and discover who is best to do what and when. Her promise is more profit, more time and more fulfilment.

Liz is a Chartered Accountant with a Masters in Forensic Accounting, with more than 15 years of finance experience across various industries (including government) and has called Gippsland home for the past 5 years.

She launched her business during COVID-19 in August 2020.

www.theefficiencycoach.com.au @lizfleming_theefficiencycoach