Your business is your “baby” and just like any child, you do whatever it takes to care for it until it develops into a healthy “adult.”  Businesses generally have 6 growth stages – Survival is the “baby” stage and Sustainability is the fully grown “adult” stage.  There is a hidden gem that most business owners oversee – managing their time.

There are only 24 hours a day, but what generally happens during the first few years is business owners often spend 75% of their day working on their “baby” to grow it into a sustainable operation, and 25% of their day managing the rest of their life, while still trying to fit in a few hours of sleep.  Time management is priceless in the early years and remains an important skill throughout all the growth stages to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

The strongest leaders definitely know how to leverage their time wisely. John Rampton believes in starting early, staying focused and knowing when to go home. He shares 7 tips on how to increase your productivity in an Entrepreneur Magazine article titled “How the Strongest Business Leaders Do Twice as Much in Half the Time.”

My favorite tip from Rampton is setting a time to shut down every day. I’ve been in business 10 years and it’s been a rollercoaster during most of it.  But no matter whether I was making money or pounding the pavement to find it, one thing I always prioritized was my “down time.”  I knew if I didn’t take time to rest that my working hours would not be as productive.

Everyone who knows me well understands that I rarely schedule appointments after 3:30 PM and generally shut down on Friday night around 5 PM to honor a Sabbath Rest until Sunday (I belong to a Messianic Jewish-Gentile community, so our Sabbath is Friday night to Saturday night).  Monday thru Friday I generally start early (often 6 AM), break for a nap after a working lunch (seriously…. naps are amazing energy boosters for me), and then I continue working until 5 PM or so.  That’s a typical week for me and it serves me very well – personally and professionally.

Knowing your best routine and sticking to it will serve you well too.  If you don’t know what an effective routine looks like for you just yet, experiment with a schedule and stick to it to find out (another great tip from Rampton). To read the other tips from his article, click here.

Credit: entrepreneur.com

Whether you’re a small business just starting out or a multigenerational company with decades of industry behind you, being successful boils down to three things, great products and services, great leaders, and great employees. It sounds simple – when you’ve got a great product you know it because people tell you how great it is, and it makes you proud. That’s one out of three you know is solid.

But do you have great leaders in your company? Are you a great boss, are your executives great at motivating and decision-making? Are the people who are the heart of your operation happy and working to their full potential? Are their team leaders recognizing and utilizing everyone to their fullest?

If you aren’t sure how to answer, then it’s time to look at Aepiphanni’s Leadership Development Program. Tailored to your individual needs, Aepiphanni will look at every step of your operation, and utilizing their expertise, pinpoint areas that need strengthening and help you and each member of your team streamline and strengthen their abilities to make your business a success.

This program will give you the tools to handle anything the world throws your way. The key to steady growth and success is in the leadership, and with Aepiphanni’s Leadership Development Program you will learn new ways to manage and lead your business into the years to come. If you’d like to learn more, fill out the form below to schedule a complimentary Coffee and Consult.  We look forward to helping you become extraordinary!

Kris Cavanaugh Castro is the People Development Coach at Aepiphanni, a Business Consultancy that provides Management Consulting, Implementation and Managed Services to business leaders and entrepreneurs seeking to improve or expand operations. Kris periodically writes about leadership development and facilitates change management conversations.

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