I don’t have to tell you that systems create organization, which saves you time and energy. With systems in place for your business you free up time to focus on things like advertising and networking. Who likes shuffling documents around and searching for that needle in a haystack. So, today I am giving you five systems that will help you organize your business.
- Welcome Packet – Includes a welcome letter, your business policies, contract and client intake forms. Create a template packet that you can quickly edit to get out to your new client within 24 hours of them creating the verbal contract to do business.
- Client Intake – Gathers all the information regarding your new client that you will need. Including: address, phone number, best times to reach them, etc. All information relevant for you the two of you to get off to a swift quick start. Bonus: It makes you look professional and organized.
- Invoicing – It is imperative to a successful business to invest (yes, investment is necessary here) in good software. Because I am service based and have hourly clients that I track my time, I recommend Freshbooks (no affiliate). They have an easy to use system that is not over the top and reasonably priced.
- File Management – In this post I talk about ways to clean out your Inbox, but it is also important to have files and folders organized on your Desktop (both your computer and actual desktop). I take a one touch approach to managing files. If it is something I will need again it goes in the appropriate folder immediate after being reviewed. I know that is where it will be when I need it again. If not, it goes in the trash. Also, I recommend keeping your “Downloads” folder cleaned out. Weekly go in and move any documents you need to keep to the appropriate location and trash the rest.
- Tracking System – Quickly creating spreadsheets to track your social media statistics, status updates and when you posted them, marketing ideas, keywords for your business, hashtags you commonly use, to-do lists… I could go on, but you get the idea. By creating these spreadsheets you create a place that you can quickly go to grab information for your business. I like to sit down once a week to plan my social media, if I open my list of keywords and hashtags, half the work is done for me. I don’t have to go searching for these items.
I promise if you spend a little time now setting up these five systems, you will save your self a lot of time and hassle in the future!
