Running a small business requires you to be generalist, with focus on multiple daily, weekly and monthly tasks. From finance to sales to business operations, you have to be on top of it all.

Unfortunately our brains aren’t designed to deliver peak performance while multitasking – that’s where technology comes in.

Luckily it’s 2017 which means you have the benefit of available technology that can radically boost your productivity by improving your time and task management game.

But with so many options available, it’s easy to fall into analysis paralysis. It’s important to find the right set of tools for your small business specifically, but here are a few of our favorites to get you started.

1. Trello

Trello is one of the most popular project management tools. It allows you to create projects, tasks, have centralized conversations with your team and schedule the deadlines.

 

 

It works the best if you follow the kanban method; a project management process invented by Toyota, now followed by many startups in software development companies.

Trello is a favorite tool of the Hatchbuck team, but there are a ton of solid alternatives including Asana, Basecamp and Wrike.

2. Wunderlist

Wunderlist is a task management app that can be used for both personal and professional prioritization. As a business solution, it allows you to collaborate on tasks with others and use it for project management. As a personal solution, it allows you to schedule events, make grocery lists and set reminders.

Unlike other project management tools, it’s simple and designed to tick off the tasks as you schedule them with dates and deadlines. It works well on a phone or tablet, along with the desktop version, making it super easy to use on the go.

 

 

3. Harvest

Harvest is one of the best time tracking apps for teams and individuals. It helps you schedule your projects and track the time on completion but also offers many other valuable features.

 

 

A few highlights include invoicing and payments, expense tracking, integration with 100+ other apps and outstanding customer support. If you’re looking for an all-in-one time management tool, Harvest is a fantastic choice.

4. GSuite

This one should be a no-brainer. GSuite,the collection of Google apps specifically designed for businesses of all sizes for very affordable pricing. From Gmail for Business and Google Calendar to apps like Google Keep, you can integrate them all together for seamless productivity.

 

 

5. Focus Booster

Ever heard of the Pomodoro Technique?

If not, it’s something you should be familiar with as a small business owner. This simple time tracking method can dramatically boost your productivity.

In short, you set a task, a timer and a break and work in blocks of time (usually 25 minutes). Focus Booster is among the best apps to manage that. If you’re stuck in the stone age, you can just grab a pen, paper and a simple kitchen timer to try out the technique.

 

For Mac, there’s a great alternative called Tomato One, that you can get in the App Store.

6. Boomerang

Boomerang works with Gmail and allows you to create simple follow-up reminders and schedule your emails into the future.

The idea is simple. Some emails, when responded to, can trigger a lengthy, unproductive conversation. Instead, you can simply use Boomerang to respond to all of your emails at once.

This way you can process all of your emails but make sure you’re not feeding the loop of unproductive conversations that aren’t urgent.

 

 

7. Brain.fm

Brain.fm was designed by a team of neuroscientists originally to help improve their own productivity. Simply put, the app uses music to put you in a desired cognitive state.

For example, if you want to use your time efficiently, your goal is to maximize focus. Brain.fm uses original music that’s consistent with the brainwaves of your focused state. Translation: this means you definitely will not be hearing today’s Top 40 on Brain.fm, but the app claims that it can deliver results within the first 10 minutes. With that kind of turnaround, we can all be productivity ninjas in no time.

 

 

Memorial Day weekend is a great time to slow down and recharge the batteries – helping you to be more productive in the long run. But successful leaders and CEOs from Bill Gates to Richard Branson have found the secret to maintaining productivity everyday, not just after those long weekends.

How?

A morning routine that primes them for success. Gates reportedly hits the treadmill in his private gym, while Branson tries to spend some time with family in addition to exercising.  

If you’re looking to improve your performance as a leader, your ideal morning routine can be a powerful tool in your arsenal. Here are five things to do every day before 10 am to achieve peak performance.

Get up an hour before you really have to.

Branson is among many celebrated entrepreneurs who swear by getting up early. If you tend to wake up at 7 or eight, consider setting your clock one hour early. At first it may be hard to change your routine, but you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish in one quiet hour before emails start flowing and phones start ringing at work. If you’re a night owl, try to turn off the TV and computer an hour earlier, too, so you don’t end up sleep deprived. Getting up earlier won’t help you much if you’re dragging all day.

Eat (a well-balanced) breakfast.

There is some debate about whether this is the most important meal of the day, but if you want to have the sustained energy you need to think clearly, there’s no doubt that eating a healthy balanced meal will make a difference. Whether you make scrambled eggs, a bowl of cereal or a smoothie, there are plenty of healthy options to keep breakfast interesting.

Aside from keeping your motor humming, eating a light meal at home will keep the junk food at the office vending machine from tempting you. It’ll also help you avoid eating the first unhealthy fast food option in your path at lunch because you’re famished.

Charge your battery.

Whether you meditate, exercise or read a chapter of a great book, an activity like this first thing in the morning is like a deposit in your personal energy bank. It will help you approach your day in a calmer way than if you simply woke up and rushed out the door.

You don’t have to do the same thing every day to reap the benefits. For instance, you might opt to do yoga two mornings a week, run twice a week with a buddy and read from a great book every Friday. By making time for these positive activities before the demands of the day overwhelm you, you’ll increase your odds of success. If you wait until evening, your routine will depend on too many variables, like whether you hit traffic or your train was late—and can easily collapse.

Set priorities.

We all have many more items on our to-do lists than we can get done. Decide what one, two or three things you absolutely have to get done before you leave work every evening and quickly confirm those priorities in your mind before you get to work the next morning. Take a look at your schedule to make sure you have allotted enough time to tackle your number one priority and if not, rearrange it. By sending a quick email to reschedule a non-essential meeting to clear the decks before you leave home, you’ll be ready to roll, without interruptions, once you get to the office.

Say “No.”

We all get many invitations to worthy events, meetings and opportunities we don’t realistically have time to do—from coffee with a new acquaintances to volunteer fundraisers. Instead of letting these invitations linger, take stock of any major ones you haven’t answered when you get to work in the morning and say no to the ones that you don’t have time for right now.

It’s not easy to say no. But if you say yes to too many outside commitments, you won’t be able to make a meaningful contribution to any. Plus, in racing from commitment to commitment, you’ll end up shortchanging the biggest ones in your life, like your family, friends and work. The word “No,” doesn’t necessarily mean forever. You can still say yes the next time around. And if you’ve been following your new morning routine, you’ll be so much more productive that you’ll have time to more of the extra activities you don’t have the bandwidth for now.  

You may have today off for the Memorial Day holiday, but getting a head start on making these five activities part of your morning routine is sure to help your productivity levels this week and beyond.

Stellar customer support is a foundational part of any small business that customers love. And customer love almost always translates into revenue.

Nailing your customer support is a way to gain and retain loyal customers. Studies show that as little as a 5% increase in your loyal customer base can increase revenue and profits up to 95%.

In other words, investing time in a defined customer support strategy pays off. And there are many components to delivering ideal customer service. Aside from a rockstar support team, another key element is having a comprehensive knowledge base that customers can reference for a quick fix or when your team is unavailable. Putting one together may be a little time-intensive right off the bat, but the long-term returns (and time saved for your team) will be worth the work.

Here’s how you build it.

1. Pick a Topic

The best source of topic ideas is your customers. Any time you notice you’re getting an influx of inquiries about a particular topic, you should write knowledge base article about it.

You should even consider actively seeking feedback, to find out where your customers struggle the most.

2. Take a Systematic Approach

The big picture should be on your mind from the start when you begin to write your first article. As the number of your articles start to grow, so will the complexity of your knowledge base.

A good knowledge base is well-organized and follows the user’s workflow. Poorly organized knowledge base leads to customers getting frustrated and reaching out for human support.

That’s why you need to follow a well-defined system when creating new articles. There should be a hierarchy that follows a logic your customers are most likely to use when looking for help. Think about your user flow and organize your knowledge based according to the customer journey through your product or service.

3. Choose Simple and Straightforward Titles

Clarity is key. Your customers are looking for help, not storytelling. So make their journey from A to B as seamless and factual as possible.

Make sure your title is directly relevant and clearly defines the article’s purpose. Always stick with simplicity over creativity. No matter what your standard brand tone and voice are, your knowledge base should be utilitarian.

4. Short, Concise and Precise

That’s the mantra of the writing the body of an article. The more one article contains, the more confusing it’s going to be. Confusion directly minimizes the chances of a customer resolving the issue at hand.

Sometimes you may feel like adding some extra information that’s related. Instead, create another article answering that the related question and link to it.

Each of your articles in the knowledge base should one question and one answer. Nothing more (and obviously nothing less).

5. Use Visuals

Often, a diagram, screenshot or a video can explain a solution much more effectively than words. Most people are more inclined to understand visuals than large blocks of text.

When you use screenshots, make sure to use accurate text to accompany it. You always want to explain the key point on the screenshot to make the customer understanding deeper.

6. Add Tags

To improve the navigation and simplify the workflow, use relevant tags for each article. As stated earlier, organization and a systematic approach are paramount. It shouldn’t need mentioning, but alongside relevant tags, the ability to search through articles should be readily available.

7. Edit and Request Feedback

As with anything you publish online, be sure to have your knowledge base articles proofread beforehand. Errors can prevent accurate searching and confuse your already-confused customers.

At the end of each article, be sure to find out if you solved the user’s issue with a quick poll. This will help you continue to improve current and future knowledge base articles.

If done correctly, your knowledge base can become a go-to resource for your customers. If not, your customer support line could be ringing off the hook. Make sure you have processes in place that really address your customer needs. Your customers (and your support team) will thank you.

As a small business owner, you’re probably painfully aware of the importance of a social media presence for your business. But with limited time and expertise to dedicate to digital marketing, how do you decide where to focus your efforts?

Small business owners don’t have the same resources as larger companies. Your social media team is likely made up of just one manager: you.

This doesn’t mean your social media marketing efforts are doomed. It just means you’ll need to be more focused and strategic right out of the gate. The best way to do this is by establishing a fantastic profile on one platform instead of stretching yourself thin across many.

Choose a Platform That Elevates Your Brand

Which platform displays your product or service in the best way?

You may absolutely adore Twitter and love the idea of posting a witty tweet once a day for your business. But if you run a gym, Twitter won’t emphasize one of your biggest selling points: your clients, trainers and atmosphere.

You don’t join a gym before touring it (unless you’re limited on options). You join based on the vibe, and above all, how it will help you meet your goals. That’s why gyms have top of the line equipment: to stay relevant and competitive in the fitness market. A site like Instagram that prioritizes visual content is better suited for a gym. The best part about Instagram? You still have room to show some personality in your posts like Gold’s Gym does below:

 

 

Consider How Often You Engage with Customers

For some businesses, engagement is key. If you run a business that provides a technical service, you can use Twitter or Facebook to answer commonly asked questions or conduct Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions.

This kind of social media activity kills two birds with one stone. By answering commonly asked questions from everybody, you provide value and market your expertise to prospective leads while also engaging with your existing customers and staying on top of customer service.

If Twitter’s short format is too limiting, Facebook is your best bet. With Facebook you can answer questions in detail and share longer form posts that include helpful content and still give a look into your small business’s company culture.

Take Advantage of Niche Social Media Marketing

Yes, Facebook is big and popular and chances are everyone you know has a profile. That said, its vast user base may work against your social media marketing efforts.

Don’t discount the power of niche social networks, especially if your product or service is perfect for a very specific audience.

Pinterest is the quirky, communal social network that allows users to explore different niches with their boards. A creative marketing agency could build boards that focus on each of their areas of expertise to both attract potential clients and serve as resources for existing ones. Instead of marketing on Facebook and reaching people who have more of a B2C focus, agencies can build a portfolio of relevant content to inspire clients and share their knowledge.

 

 

Exploring niche social networking opportunities also encourages you to be consistent. Nothing motivates you to put out more content like genuine interest and enthusiasm from prospective buyers.

Look at The Numbers

If you’re lucky, you have extensive information about your current customers. Key demographics about your customer base give you a rough idea of where they spend most of their online time.

This is more important than you think. Remember our earlier advice about picking a platform that elevates your brand? Well, let’s suppose you own an architectural firm. That advice alone would tell you to market on Instagram, since architecture is a visual job.

The thing is, Instagram has a younger user base and not many young people think about building or designing homes. Most are either in school or just starting their careers and hardly in a place to buy a home. Throw in the fact that today’s young adults prioritize things like travel and experiences over home ownership and you’ve found yourself marketing to the wrong crowd.

Those who want and can afford to hire an architect are likely older (and more likely in the B2B realm). A social network like Facebook or Pinterest would be more suitable than Instagram.

In scenarios like this one, demographics can be very helpful.

Getting your small business on social media doesn’t have to be a chore. In fact, if you choose the right social network, you may enjoy the process more than you expect. Social media helps you reach your customers in a way that feels less opportunistic than ads. It also gives you the chance to start a conversation with prospective leads and build a foundation of trust when it comes to your company.

If you’re still using spreadsheets to manage your customers, this year is the time to stop and get on board with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. Seriously — just stop with clunky spreadsheets that have versioning problems, siloed information, lengthy data analyzation and the inability to scale with your business.

Using a CRM for your small business instead of spreadsheets has many benefits. But, even if you already made the leap to a new CRM or are ready to do so this year, there’s still one very important piece of the transition you must keep in mind. User adoption.

According to Forrester, a lack of user adoption is responsible for 70 percent of failed CRM projects. Humans are naturally resistant to change – and your team is no different. There are several reasons why they won’t want to make the switch to a new CRM, like:

• Productivity might be down while your team ramps up a new process.
• Your team might be opposed to using a new system because they haven’t been trained properly.
• If you haven’t explained how a CRM will add value to their role, they won’t see the point in using it.
• Lack of adoption from peers or managers can discourage your team from embracing new technology.

The reasons for a lack of adoption for your new CRM software can go on and on. But, don’t worry. There are a number of steps you can take for your business to ensure your investment in CRM software doesn’t go to waste:

Step 1: Over Communicate

It’s important every single employee within your company understands why a CRM is critical to business success. Before you adopt the software, bring together a group of key stakeholders or managers to communicate down to their teams about what is coming and expectations for each team and employee.

Step 2: Get Buy In

Sit down with every single employee and understand their pain points in your current system, and what they need to do to get their job done better. Not only will this help you pick the right CRM software, but it should help get your employees pumped up that you’re adopting a way for them to be more efficient and effective in their job. And eliminating the stuff that gives them a daily headache.

Step 3: Set an Adoption Schedule

It’s likely easier for your employees to slowly adopt a new system in chunks. Roll out a plan that will fold learning the new CRM into pieces of time that are manageable for everyone, and schedule training sessions based on priority of what you need your team to understand and use most quickly. Require that certain training sessions are finished by specific dates, and send many reminder emails or calendar invites for these training sessions. Perhaps look into incentivizing completion of the training courses.

Step 4: Get Leadership Participation

If your company’s leaders aren’t using the CRM, then how can you expect the employees to want to adopt it? Make sure your leadership team understands how important their participation is. They don’t get to skip out on training sessions because they’re too busy or have important meetings.

Step 5: Provide Follow-Up

Don’t think your job is done after the initial training sessions are checked off. Make sure you provide additional follow-up training for those who learn slower or might have been sick or absent. Also, take the time to schedule check-in meetings with teams and leaders, and provide a way for employees to give consistent feedback on how the CRM is working for them in their daily jobs.

Step 6: Ensure Proper CRM Setup & Offer a Quick Reference Guide

It’ll be easier for employees to understand how this new CRM will benefit them if it’s already filled with data and there’s a quick reference guide. If they sign-in to the new CRM and it’s empty, they’ll have a hard time understanding what it does and why. Make sure the data is all setup to feed in correctly, and that there are process flows, custom filters and custom buttons created for the processes for your business. Customize your CRM to work for your business, don’t just expect the out-of-the-box solution to be the answer.

Step 7: Leverage CRM Reporting

Tie your team’s goals to data in your CRM to make it extra sticky. Sales and marketing reports pulled from your CRM ensure that your sales team is tied to boosting performance with the tool.

Step 8: Encourage Employees to Get Additional Training

Every single small business CRM platform offers additional training and power-user training. The more your employees can understand the power of the CRM you’ve adopted for your small business, the better they’ll be at using it. Considering incentivizing additional trainings for your employees each quarter.

User adoption is the crux of success for your new CRM software. By adhering to the tips outlined above, you’ll be setting your business up for success this year and making sure your investment in a small business CRM isn’t a giant red hole in your budget.

When you read about the perks that famous tech firms give their employees, it’s easy to be intimidated as a smaller business. From Google’s free food to Spotify’s private concerts and Facebook’s four months of paid maternity and paternity leave, it can be hard to think of ways to match these extras without having the same deep pockets.

Fortunately, small businesses have an edge in employee happiness. According to the 2017 Aflac Small Business Happiness Report, 84 percent of small business employees are happy in their current job and 48 percent say that most (or all) of their happiness in their current job is actually because they work for a small business. In fact, when they compared their situation to working at a large company, employees indicated that small businesses make them feel more appreciated (67 percent), accomplished (54 percent), productive (55 percent) and motivated (52 percent).

That said, 72% of the employees said an improvement in their benefits would raise their happiness level more. The good news is that some of best perks you can give employees won’t cost you anything. Here are three free perks that will make your employees feel the love.

Work From “Wherever” Days

Some jobs need to be done in person, but if your team mostly does office work, consider offering employees the freedom to work from home, a café or another location of their choosing. Some small businesses offer this option on an occasional basis—for instance when an employee needs to wait for the air conditioning repair team or has a sick child at home. At other companies, it’s more of a regular thing. Letting employees know you trust them to get their work done when they’re on their own can go a long way toward building morale.

Of course, not every employee has the self-discipline to work virtually. If you do offer a work-from-wherever option, it is often best to make sure team members are achieving key performance indicators (KPIs) you have set (and agreed upon). Employees who can’t meet your goals when working in the office may need closer supervision than you can offer from afar. Making it dependent on achieving certain KPIs can give you an out if it turns out the freedom of Facebook and long walks with the dog is too tempting for some employees.

Also, figure out in advance how you will evaluate the success of the arrangement. If you need a little direction, check out Zapier’s helpful resource: “The Ultimate Guide to Remote Work.” It shares nuggets of knowledge around managing teams when they are working from home.   

A Relaxed Dress Code

At many companies, casual Fridays are the only time employees can wear comfortable clothes to work—but does it really have to be that way? Allowing your team to dress down throughout the week can be a great perk that doesn’t cost your business a dime. If you run a business where you interact with your customers in the office, consider extending the casual dress option to any days that employees don’t have in-person meetings.

A relaxed dress code is also proven to help to attract and keep employees. Almost one-third of office workers said they would prefer to work at a company with a business casual dress code in a 2016 survey by staffing firm OfficeTeam, and 27 percent favored a casual dress code or no dress code at all. You won’t find a dress code at Netflix, in large part because they value “Freedom and Responsibility” for their team. Employees are able to wear whatever they want as long as long as it’s in good taste. As tech companies have famously proven, coming to work in hoodies and jeans doesn’t prevent anyone from doing great work. And many employees love casual office environments.

Laid-Back Company Culture

Free perks such as bring your kid to work day can be a great way to loosen up your culture and show your employees that you value families in the workplace. Also, planning an occasional day when employees can bring their pets to work will give everyone something fun to look forward to.

The warm weather is a great time to do this, in case anyone’s pet turns out to be restless in an office environment and needs a lot of outdoor breaks. Another ideal time of year to do this is Halloween. It’ll give pet parents a chance to dress up their dogs and cats—and your marketing team some great photos to share on Facebook, Instagram and your website. If your office space is conducive, inviting canine coworkers into the office more frequently is a great way to boost team morale.

If it isn’t practical to bring pets to work because of employee allergies or tight space, consider holding a quarterly in-house movie day on a day of the week when your company isn’t as busy. Create a rotating committee to choose the movie and plan the event. Bonding over hot buttered popcorn is a great way to bring your team together and let your team know you care.

You don’t have to be Google, Apple or a big business to deliver great perks to your team. These simple, free benefits will go a long way to keeping your employees engaged and create a workplace culture that even rivals the big guys.

You’re maxed out. Customers are complaining about late deliverables or slow customer service. No matter how hard you work, you can’t get caught up.

Is it time to hire your next employee? It may be. Many small business owners are seeing increased demand, with 48% expecting revenue to increase in the next 12 months, according to a recent survey by Bank of America. There’s a point where the only way to handle additional work is to hire an additional employee.

But the percentage of owners projecting increased revenue is down slightly from 52% in the fall of 2016, and many are cautious about hiring too rapidly.

According to the survey, plans to hire have dipped to their lowest point in five years. Just 18 percent of small business owners are planning to hire in the year ahead, down 7 percentage points from fall 2016. Instead, respondents say they are more focused on retaining existing employees.

Against this backdrop, how do you decide if you should make that next hire? Here are some questions to ponder.

Is the surge you are seeing in business likely to continue?

Sometimes it can seem like an increase in demand will go on forever, but it turns out to be shorter-lived than expected. For instance, if you sell a product for which business-to-business customers can get a tax break, demand may be high toward the end of the year, when your clients are trying to maximize deductions. That doesn’t mean your sales patterns in December will necessarily reflect what they will be every month for the year to come. Before you hire someone to meet a sudden surge in demand, consider what may be driving the increased business and ask yourself how likely it will be to continue consistently.

Have you exhausted other ways of expanding your capacity?

Even if you can’t handle any more work yourself or with your existing team, you may not need to hire an employee to get more done. Many owners look to other means of productivity first. For instance, bringing on outsourced help from a bookkeeper, a marketing consultant or a social media freelancer can help you free up time in your schedule or your team’s, without the commitment that comes from hiring an employee.

Automation can also be a good way to extend your reach. There are many technologies that can help you get more done without hiring an additional employee. Using customer relationship management software or a marketing automation tool can often free up a lot of time spent keeping in touch with customers, after the initial period where you get up and running.

Also look into software that can help you automate routine administrative tasks that might otherwise take up time for you or an administrative assistant. For instance, a low-cost app called ScheduleOnce allows you to send a link to contacts showing your public calendar, so they can select a time you are available and book an appointment. Using an app like this can save you hours of emailing back and forth about when you and your contacts are free to talk or meet.

Are you financially prepared?

Hiring an employee is a big responsibility. That individual will be depending on you for a steady paycheck and perhaps benefits. You can’t just opt out of running payroll if money is tight.

Many owners feel more confident about adding someone to payroll if they can bank three to six months of compensation for a new hire ahead of time. That way, they know they won’t have to lay off their new employee if something unexpected occurs, like the loss of a big contract or an unexpected retraction in the economy.

If this is the first time you have added someone else to the payroll, it’s also important to consider the ancillary costs. Unlike when you hire contractors, you will need to pay the employer’s portion of taxes on their pay. And you’ll also need to hire a payroll service, which can run you in the neighborhood of $50 to $100 each time you run payroll.

Finally, you should consider your cash flow for at least the next 12 months before you make a hire. Even if you have high revenue, if it tends to wax and wane throughout the year, you may not have steady enough cash flow to pay someone else, and all of the ancillary costs of a new hire. By looking for ways to line up work that brings you steadier cash flow before making your next hire, you’ll be able to do so with confidence—or make an educated decision to put off hiring for another six months or a year.
Adding a great new member of your team can be a wonderful way to bring new energy and talent to your business, but only if you’re prepared