The Working Smarter, Not Harder: Ways to Improve Your Company's Bottom Line
- 1. Create a business plan
- 2. Create a system
- 3. Maintain timesheets
- 4. Don't lowball yourself
- 5. Don't ignore paperwork & bookkeeping
- 6. Get professional help
Once you start working as a Tradie, it might seem that your hard work provides you with a decent amount of money. However, sooner than later you will notice that the working hours keep on extending and the profit margin keeps getting thinner.
If you continue with the same approach, you will be working twice the hours and not making a decent profit even after that. This is where you need to start thinking smarter. Beginning to look at how you can get off the tools and work on your business, rather than just always working in the business is they key.
Rather than thinking in terms of being on the tools and working hours, it is a good idea to develop a proper business plan. Once you do so, you will migrate from the Tradie mindset to the mindset of a CEO. Once you execute the same, it will become easier for you to grow your profit while reducing working hours. That is a win-win!
What does it mean to work smarter, not harder?
Working smarter, not harder means having a clear strategy to prioritize your most important activities so you end each productive day feeling satisfied rather than overwhelmed and overworked.
You will soon be able to work manageable hours and still make a great profit.
Why should you work smarter and not harder?
Working smarter, not harder is the key to success for today’s busy Tradies. It reduces stress and overwhelm as well as saving time and energy; all factors that contribute positively in achieving your goals. Learning how to work smart will allow you more freedom of choice when it comes to your schedule – a luxury many people can only dream about!
How to work smarter, not harder.
1. Create a business plan
Creating a business plan is the need of the hour if you want to convert your work into a proper business.
The business plan will help you understand how to grow your business and in which direction you can grow your business. You can use your experience as a tradie to create a business plan.
The business plan will help you determine a couple of key aspects of your business which include:
- Build a budget
The very 1st thing is to build a budget. The budget should be for every aspect of your business.
For example, you have to create a budget for the salary of your employees. Similarly, you have to set budget for the software and other tools you use for your business.
There should be a proper marketing budget as well.
Once you create a proper budget for everything, it will become easier for you to understand how to allocate your capital and resources.
Efficient allocation of capital and resources will ensure that you can easily hire more people and get work done rather than doing everything yourself.
- Create a cashflow plan
Once you create a budget for everything, you can create a proper cash flow plan as well. After you control your expenses, automatically, you can calculate your margin on the job, and you will know right away how your cash full cash flow will fare.
Not only that, since your expenses will be planned, you can maintain liquidity in your business easily.
Thus, while creating a business plan, you have to make a cash flow plan as well.
With these steps, you can convert your job into a proper business.
2. Create a system
Once you have created a business plan, now is the time to develop a proper system. Once you systemize everything, no longer every task in your business will need your own time and input.
The question here is, how to build a system?
We will share the various parts of a system with you that you need to create a proper system.
- SOPs
You have to create a standard operating protocol for everything. Once you do so, you will create a proper blueprint for your employees and your business.
You have to provide the link to standard operating procedures to your employees and everyone in your organization. That way, they will have proper instructions to follow.
- Protocols
Secondly, you have to create a protocol for everything. For example, you have to make a business continuity protocol.
In case of any disruption or emergency, your employees will know what to do.
Similarly, you have to create a data leak protocol. In that case, whenever there is a data leak, your employees will know what to do.
Similarly, you to create an order cancellation protocol. In that case, when the customer wants to cancel an order, you will know right away how to approach the situation.
Once you create protocols for everything, your employees can undoubtedly replace you in day-to-day operations.
No longer will you lead to devote time to every task of your business.
- Training Modules
Once you start hiring employees in your business, you will find that a lot of time goes into training. The problem is that if you devote this time, once again, you will not be able to focus on your business. You will end up being a teacher or a tutor.
Once you create proper training modules, whether in the form of videos or text, you can directly provide them to your prospective employees. They will learn on their own.
You can appoint senior employees in your business to teach them as well.
The training modules will help them as well.
- Assistance Modules
When you’re hiring employees to convert your work into a proper business, your employees will need your assistance sooner than later. For the same, you have to create an assistance module.
That will help your employees understand whether they need your intervention or whether they can fix the problem with the help of the above modules.
Thus, once you create all these resources, it will become easier for you to create a system. After that, you have to train your employees to follow the system rather than contact you for everything.
3. Maintain timesheets
When you’re working on your own, you will know how many hours you work almost every day.
After you hire your employees, you will have to pay them on a timely basis. The payment will be dependent on the number of hours which they have worked.
Due to the same, you have to maintain a timesheet.
Rather than maintaining manual timesheets, you have to use software to do so. The software will record the employees’ location and maintain the timesheets in an automated way.
Using such timesheets, you will know right away how much you have to pay your employees.
In the timesheet, you can easily import the hourly rate of the employee as well.
With the help of timesheets, you can not only manage one or two employees but even 20 employees.
That is why you have to start maintaining timesheets if you’re serious about converting your job into a proper business.
4. Don't lowball yourself
When you’re working as a tradie, you will accept every job which comes your way.
Sooner than later, you will realize that some jobs have a shallow profit margin. They can take up a lot of your time.
To avoid this problem, you have to quote appropriately.
For the same, you have to create proper templates.
When you do not lowball yourself, your margins will expand, and you will undoubtedly earn your time’s worth.
5. Don't ignore paperwork & bookkeeping
Businesses need to file taxes like individuals. However, since the turnover of a business is usually on the higher side and the stakeholders are more, you need to maintain proper paperwork.
Most business owners might think that paperwork takes a lot of their time and effort. That is because they try to gather all the documents very near the tax filing deadline.
Instead of doing so, you have to try and maintain a record right from the start.
Not only that, you have to hire a bookkeeper as well.
Once you do so, the annual records will be readily available when you need to file your taxes.
The bookkeeper will keep everything systemized. That way, your accountant can compute and let you know how much you have to pay in taxes.
Once you do so, you will not have to devote a lot of time to taxes.
The task of paying taxes will undoubtedly become easy.
6. Get professional help
Do all these things sound very confusing to you?
We understand that it might be overwhelming when you start following the steps and tips.
Rather than going through a lot of trial and error to develop systems and a business plan, it is a much better idea to get some professional help.
There are business managers and developers who can help you with the same.
Once you hire such a consultant, it will become easier for you to convert your job into a proper business.
Since the consultants will be well versed with the process, there will be no trial and error. They can help you right away to develop your business plan, file taxes, hire employees, create systems, and so on.
In a nutshell, you will get someone experienced on your team to help you create a proper business.
Conclusion
So, instead of working more and more, it is a much better idea to follow these few tips. Once you do so, you can start operating as an ordinary business person. After that, it will become easier for you to expand your profit margin, make more money, and make your employees work on your behalf.
All you need to do is to follow our guide above. With our guide, you can undoubtedly get off the tools and work smarter.
