5 Practical Ways To Save Time as A Business Owner or CEO

Where does all the time go?

Well, if you go by the stats, nearly a third of the average CEO’s time gets sunk into email, another third into meetings, and just the final third into actually getting stuff done.

Many of you will relate to this; the tedious back and forth email conversations, the many late starting and overrun meetings; what it all adds up to is a whole lot of wasted time and energy.

Sometimes better planning and more detailed to-do lists just aren't enough to get the most out of your time. So we've taken it upon ourselves to share a few of the ways we believe to be most effective for getting the best out of your time, and overall improve business operations.

1.Live In The Clouds

More businesses are moving processes to cloud-based services as part of a wider move away from clunky hardware and costly software, toward the much lighter and cost effective software as a service (SaaS) model. You can manage accounts, payroll, shipments, files, and much more from anywhere that has a decent enough internet connection. What’s more, the support is often around the clock, eliminating down time and stress-filled hours spent troubleshooting.

2. Optimise Your Email

Although we spend much of our time with email, the typical inbox is very inefficient. This is surprising as the amount of tools, apps, add ons, and extensions for services like Gmail are immense. For example; ever had the need to catch up on reading or replying to messages when your in a place with no internet? There’s an extension for that: Gmail Offline.

3. Accept Mobile Payments

Mobile payment-processing apps like Square, PayPal, and QuickBook's GoPayment and exploding in popularity. And for good reason: They’re quick—no need to wait for a printed receipt—convenient—no need to carry credit cards around—and widely accessible—nearly two-thirds of Americans are smartphone owners.

4. Outsource Fleet Management

If you run your own fleet of company vehicles you’ll fully understand why the task has become a whole job in itself. The ongoing administration and cost management, coupled with making sure all vehicles are kept on the road, can consume a huge chunk of time. Outsourcing your fleet management to an external company can free up this time and provide additional benefits such as itemised monthly invoices for maintenance costs and discounts on parts and services.

5. Give Your Team More Responsibility

Many CEOs and business owners have a hard time delegating what they can get done themselves. A good way to manage this is by adopting the Pareto principle. The principle states that 80 percent of results or “effects” come from just 20 percent of what you do or “causes”. Following this approach in your business can help you see where you need to spend more time, what can be delegated, and what can be discarded.

If you’d like to find out more about our fleet management service or our other leasing options, leave us a comment, send us an email at info@marshall-leasing.co.uk, or call us 01480 414541.