Small Business Owners
How to Be the Jack of All Trades
At the onset of their venture, small business owners generally can’t afford to hire support staff. This requires they wear many hats in order to manage all the necessary business functions. It’s important that you beware of all these functions so you avoid neglecting key business tasks that enable your practice to run more efficiently. While there are some services you should outsource to trusted professionals (for example, lawyers), other functions you’ll have to manage yourself. So until you can hire help, here are 5 priority tasks you should become proficient at:
Marketing Specialist
We continually stress the importance of marketing. While it’s nice to imagine otherwise, clients are not magnetically drawn to your office. They need to hear about your services before they can request them. That’s why your marketing efforts can make or break your business. From the promotions you publicize on your website to your yellow page listing, all of it speaks of the value of your services. Your marketing efforts will build a stronger accounting practice. If you’re interested in learning more about proven-marketing strategies, visit our Universal Practice Builder site.
Copywriter
Related to marketing, copywriting is the process of writing the text associated with all marketing efforts. This includes the text on your website, in your brochures, on your fliers, and even the newsletters you distribute. While you can hire a copywriter to do this for you, until you have enough money to do that, you’re the best person for the job. And who better knows just how valuable your services are?
Collections Manager
Billing your clients is important, but collecting is even more important. While you should do all you can to ensure your clients have good credit before you add them to your roster, there’s always the chance they’ll delay payment, jeopardizing the vitality of your business. So until you can outsource this task you must do it yourself. Devise a system whereby you can track payments and notify clients when their accounts are outstanding. And once they are you should discontinue your services until they become current.
Administrative Assistant
Okay, so you aren’t flush enough to hire your own secretary. That’s okay-doing this job will help you better connect with your clients. This function may require you to have a routine To Do list which you follow in order to ensure you accomplish everything that must be done. From filing invoices to scheduling appointments to ordering supplies, you must have a system of managing all these tasks so that nothing crucial is forgotten.
Technology Expert
Now when your business only has one computer this generally isn’t a problem. But consider those clients you work with. If their accounting software fails or they encounter a problem tracking financial information, you must know enough to either help them solve the problem or refer them to someone who can. This may require you to do a little research and keep up on significant software trends. If you’re interested in learning how to master QuickBooks, the leading accounting software used by small business owners, visit our QuickBooks training site.You probably anticipated working overtime for your business the first few years. You may not have anticipated working countless jobs in the process. But until you can afford to hire help you’ll have to do much of this yourself. The good news is you’ll become even more knowledgeable about your business in the process; in fact, you’ll become your own Profit Expert which will enable you to be even more valuable to your own clients.
