Ask any entrepreneur what's their secret in being productive and you'll get an answer that says "plan ahead". But how do we plan for the next activity or the next day ahead of us? Even in best times, you still need to be productive for a more profitable outcome. In down times, performance is doubled to balance sales and productivity. Here are 5 business strategies to keep your productivity on overdrive:
1. Plan Ahead. Plan. Plan. Plan. It's better to plan ahead than be sorry. Planning is defining your direction, decision making on resources allocation of people and capital. Strategic Planning usually revolves around 3 questions.
a. What do we do?
b. For whom do we do it?
c. How do we excel? Or how do we beat competition?
In strategic planning, you will be able to identify what is working and not working in your field of operation policies and regulations, standards and projections; they are detailed in the following departments. Long term planning is a useful tool for projections in productivity, such as:
1. Sales and Marketing
2. Management Systems
3. Operations
4. Products
5. Finances
6. R & D
7. Costs
8. System Organization
2. Management of Your Time. Prioritize your day by concentrating on the business you want to work on first by making a schedule and adhering to it. Avoiding procrastination and distractions in your work will save you a lot of time. There is such a thing as scheduled distractions; do it and ignore it for the rest of the day. You'll get more peace and quiet. Planning your exit at the end of the day will help you resolve time issues and have ample time for minor planning for tomorrow.
3. Get enough Sleep. "Sleep is mending the sleep of care", William Shakespeare. You got that right. You will never function to your highest level when you are deprived of sleep. Defining working hours to get enough sleep is the way to stay at your peak and boost your productivity.
4. Pose challenges and set that goal. Ever heard of a company motto that says "Better your Best". This is one of the best mottos of all time in improving and keeping productivity on overdrive. I know because I used to work in one of the top companies in the country. Proper motivations and goal setting from the management down to the rank and file employees did the job. Production efficiency shot up, Total preventive maintenance is on the roll, Sales and Marketing forecasts reached and overall productivity is heaven. Goals reached and rose up to the challenge.
Entrepreneurs set milestones to motivate themselves on a task; this ensures the necessity of progress attained by staying focused. Avoid the" I quit "mentality when you are up to it.
5. Stay on track. It's not always easy to do this; temptations to deviate from your path looms throughout the day and swaying away could be costly. Deadlines are set and keeping up with demands could be tough; with hard work and discipline
Keeping up with your plans and its implementation will be easier to follow and get things done. Goals reached, demands met, projections in place and everything in pace. At the end of each day, you can stand up and say "I did it".
Author Resource:
John Komatsoulis is 22 year business development expert who helps small & medium businesses develop more customers using online and offline Business Strategies . Request a FREE Business Evaluation today and get more clients tomorrow.