Category: Balance

Posted on

KPIs for a better work-life balance 

You probably know by now that, in order to focus on getting something done then you need to start measuring it. 

I love what I do and we only have good clients so it’s too easy to work when I should be doing other things. Like relaxing. Two KPIs that I use to ensure that I maintain a decent balance are total hours worked and profit per hour. 

The first one is fairly clear. I ran my first accountancy practice on 25 hours a week (the length of a school week) to fit around my 2 small children. I do work longer hours now they’ve grown and flown but I still want time for me.  

By measuring profit per hour I have a clear benchmark when deciding whether to do something myself, to automate it, or delegate it. Whilst somebody else might take the same time as me they may be cheaper or, they might do something faster because they are an expert more familiar with the task. Software may cost money but it can save time which is why we invest quite a bit in order to run a lean business.  

Taking yourself out of the day to day of the business will also increase the value if you are considering a business sale at some point in the future. A business that operates independently of you will give you a better balance AND allow you to scale AND increase the value when you finally exit. 

Posted on

How was your holiday? 

Hope fully you managed some time off (or have a break lined up) from your business without too much hassle.  

When I ran Hudson Business Accountants and Advisers, I remember coming back from a holiday to find that my team had onboarded 2 new clients from new enquiries and already completed the work for one of them.  

It was a very strange feeling to realise that, even though I was the face of the business and the one responsible for business development, my team could function perfectly well without me. Yes, it was what I had aimed for but, like my kids growing up and leaving home, it took a bit of mental and emotional adjustment from me.  

How great to take a relaxing holiday without interruption and not come back to a disaster.  

It also increased the value of my business when I eventually sold it as the business was its own entity and could function to the same high standards without me.  

If I can help you to achieve the same profitable, work-life balancing business then please reply to this email and we can book a call to discuss the options from free to freedom. 

Posted on

The importance of delegation 

Some people find it easier to delegate than others. I’m one of the former, perhaps because I find it easier to find people who are better than me? 😉 But it is also important to be able to stand back and let them get on with things while ignoring the temptation to micromanage.

I’ve written and spoken elsewhere about HOW to delegate so I’ll address WHY it is important for you to delegate.

  • Moving away from hands on work allows you to remove yourself from the business in order to focus on strategy and business improvements. You can’t see the view from the bridge if you’re busy shovelling coal in the engine room.
  • It empowers your employees and enables them to step up (using you’re your training, procedures, and checklists) and maybe even step beyond your current standards
  • It allows your team to develop more skills themselves and even to add new skills to the team
  • It improves team productivity and efficiency. Get the right pegs in the right holes instead of trying to do everything yourself, irrespective of whether it’s in your area of expertise or not
  • Spreading the workload allows you to reduce your personal stress and avoid burnout

So, sit back, relax, and delegate.

A couple of extra bits that caught my eye:

New supercomputer in Bristol UK’s most powerful supercomputer Isambard-AI comes online – BBC News

ICAEW Q2 Business Confidence Monitor (regional updates will follow) UK Business Confidence Monitor: National | ICAEW

Posted on

Your business isn’t your family

Okay, some of us run a family business, but it should still be run along professional lines.

Employees may underperform and you will need to follow your disciplinary procedures to bring them back in line. You may even need to sack them if they are more of a liability than an asset so make sure that you do everything legally. Employees may leave you for better pay, conditions, or opportunities. Or you may need to make their positions redundant if you need to reorganise the business or make cutbacks if the business is underperforming.

While many clients will become friends yours is primarily a business relationship. Why would you offer ‘mates rates’ when your mates should be supporting you to set up your new business? Would they give up part of their salary as willingly as you drop your prices? You may need to be disciplined about only answering business queries during working hours and not in the middle of your sister’s wedding. Real friends wouldn’t want to spoil your free time.

Clients may leave if they feel the grass is greener on the other side in terms of price or services. Similarly we need to charge commercial prices to everybody and to increase those in line with inflation each year.

If you treat your business as a business and your friends as good employees or good clients then you will be able to offer a much better service overall. If you have to sell yourself cheap or accept poor standards to keep their friendship then are they really friends?

Posted on

How to achieve work-life balance as a business owner 

You may have started your business with the intentions of having a better work-life balance or for some other reason and the work is now taking over your life. If so here are a few tips. 

  1. Set clear boundaries between work and personal time (and place). I find it helpful to clear my desk each evening and to ensure that I actually log off my computer (it’s also better for keeping your software updated) 
  1. Prioritise tasks – you’ve probably already seen the matrix of urgent vs important where you start with the tasks that are urgent AND important 
  1. Delegate where possible – be aware of how much you could earn in an hour and delegate everything possible to somebody with a lower hourly rate. This might be a virtual assistant, a junior member of the team, or even buying in help at home. 
  1. Schedule regular breaks – I always block out an hour for lunch and an alarm to finish working at the end of the day. My need for tea ensures that I take regular breaks to make another drink (or go to the loo after drinking so much!) 
  1. Schedule holidays – I start each year by blocking off the last week of March, June, September, and December as well as a week around my birthday. I sometimes need to change these dates nearer the time but it means that I don’t book meetings in when I expect to be away. 
  1. Practice mindfulness or other stress management techniques – I don’t meditate but I do enjoy running and letting my brain unwind. It’s how I originally got into triathlons 
  1. Create a flexible work schedule that works for you and your life – this isn’t just for the business owner as all our team have this option 
  1. Monitor KPIs around this – I track my weekly working hours and also my profit per hour. 

What are your top tips for work-life balance 

Posted on

How to avoid burnout 

We seem to live in a real hustle culture where working longer hours is seen as a good thing. As you know I’m a great believer in using technology or delegation to work more efficiently in a shorter period of time. But sometimes we still go through intense periods of work. 

  • Set yourself realistic goals and timescales. Unless you have a TARDIS you can only do so much in a particular time period so you may have to settle for 80%. Decide which 80% is the most important. 
  • Take regular breaks throughout the day to eat properly and exercise or just walk around the block (in daylight hours if possible but moonlight is better than nothing) 
  • Practice self care and relaxation techniques. I find that repetitive exercise doesn’t just help my body but also gives my mind an opportunity to relax and unwind. Exercise endorphins are also legal drugs! Don’t make yourself work harder than you would expect of your team. 
  • Recognise the signs of burnout early and change your behaviour sooner rather than later. 
  • Get support from colleagues or a business coach to help you set realistic goals and to give you some accountability. One of my coaching clients had a goal to lower her golf handicap which meant getting out to play/practice regularly.  
Posted on

How to work faster 

Why do some people work faster than others? Sorry, I have no idea but I did hear of a study that discovered that manual work rates could double between slow and fast workers. The more complex the work, the higher the multiple so that a software engineer might be 16 times faster than a peer.  

When I set up my first accountancy business my plan assumed that everybody worked at the same pace as me. When I started recruiting (good) staff I found that this wasn’t the case and that I was a lot faster than others. I had to adjust my business model accordingly. We still keep approximate timesheets to track individuals’ work rates for planning purposes. 

So how can you help slower workers to speed up? 

  • Have proper processes so that everybody knows the most efficient way to do things 
  • Training and processes help people to get started sooner on each task with less planning time 
  • Help them to find the best time of day and working environment for them to do their ‘deep’ focused work and fit simpler tasks around this 
  • Build in controls and reviews so that faster work doesn’t become sloppy work 

When building your business cost model consider cheaper, slower trainees/junior staff vs more expensive but faster qualified/senior staff. When could you use different staff? 

Plan your work and your resource accordingly. Most of our accounts work is carried out by other members of the team and I only review it. This also means that all year end accounts have the benefit of at least two sets of eyes. BUT if a client needs something quickly, I often do it myself. The costs are passed on to the client if the extra speed is needed because they have delayed. 

Any other ideas on how to speed up work rates? 

Posted on

What do you value?

Struggling to write this today as I hide in a café in the village while a house clearance company dispose of 14 years of my life.

But I’m a natural optimist (and the future is looking very good once I’ve waved goodbye to the memories here) so it’s easy to see the silver linings.

I’ve always believed that people are more important than things and so it was a no-brainer that I would choose to run my first business on just 25 hours per week so that I could spend time around my kids as they were growing up. I also worked from home until the team grew beyond 5 people and we had to take on external offices in the next town.

Working on limited hours meant that I soon became an acknowledged expert on how to run my business as efficiently as possible and it’s something that I love to share with accounts and business clients through coaching and courses. Which is how my second business was born.

Seeing my possessions go out of the door (some to new homes via a charity, and some to the dump) is hard but they are just objects compared to the family, friends, staff, and clients who ate around my dining table or shared their dreams in my offices.

What are your most precious memories? Does your business allow you to do what you want to do?

Posted on

Should you be selfish in business?

I believe that you should be selfish in business, but perhaps not in the way that you think.

When you set up your business you gave up regular income and security in order to run the business of your dreams. Your dreams may be similar to mine or perhaps not, but the point is that we want something out of our business in the form of work-life balance, profit, or passion.

And we should be selfish about structuring our business to achieve our personal goals.

I see far too many business owners who are working long hours for below minimum wage or just not enjoying whatever their business has become. Some of them come to me for coaching. They are worse off than if they had stayed in their imperfect employment and they need something to help them out of the rough and onto the fairway towards their original goal. (And there, as a non-golfer, my golfing analogies end!)

Are you where you want to be in your business? If yes then give yourself a round of applause, if not then reply to this email for news on our various coaching programmes.

Posted on

The problem of growing too fast

It sounds as though it’s a nice problem to have but many small businesses fail at this stage

  • Overtrading – lack of cash to cover your higher costs while you wait to collect those higher debts. Clamp down on your credit control to ensure that you have sufficient working capital
  • Lack of systems – don’t reinvent the wheel but create a system for anything that you’re likely to do more than once. I’m running a live webinar for accountants on Tuesday 16th so email us for the link
  • Unable to find the right people – you will probably need more staff but you may also need different staff for a scaleup rather than a start up. If you prefer to do the work then you could employ a manager to run your business. I like to train my own team as we work very differently to many traditional accountants but you will have more choice in recruits if you offer REAL flexibility on hours and location.

What have you found helpful as you grew your business?