SORTED!

Alice Jennings

Description

Are you running your business or is it running you?

Running a small business can take over your life but it doesn’t

have to be that way. Choosing and using the right technology

and systems can transform the way your business works and this

book shows you how!

No matter how technophobic you are, Sorted! will quickly help

you find the small changes that will make a big difference to

your business. If you’re more tech savvy, you’ll love the ninja tips

to take your business to the next level. Feel more confident in

your choice of technology and systems for the future, because

whatever your plans are, you need the right systems in place to

help you achieve them.

In the beginning ..........................................................1

How to get the most from this book ............................ 1

1. Be realistic .................................................................... 1

2. Be committed .............................................................. 2

3. Be kind .......................................................................... 2

Systems vs tools .............................................................. 4

How to use this book ..................................................... 4

1. To solve a specifi c problem ....................................... 4

2. To help you plan your ideal business and

then carry out the steps required to get there. ........... 5

Chapter 1: Getting started ........................................7

The SORTED Framework ................................................ 9

Rule 1. All businesses have three departments ......... 10

Rule 2. There are three stages of business.................. 11

Before you start choosing your systems and tools ... 14

How will you do your work? ........................................ 15

What is your business? ................................................. 17

Chapter 1 checklist ..................................................... 22

Chapter 2: Client attraction: getting customers ...25

Word of mouth ............................................................. 26

Offl ine advertising ........................................................ 26

Email marketing ........................................................... 27

What is email marketing? ............................................. 27

The rules of email marketing ........................................ 28

What does an email marketing tool do? ................... 31

Which system to use? ................................................... 35

Moving on from free tools ............................................ 36

Websites ........................................................................ 38

Domain names and web hosting ............................... 39

What do you want from a website? ........................... 40

What is the simplest way to get a website? .............. 44

Wordpress.com vs Wordpress.org ............................... 44

Measuring ...................................................................... 46

Google Analytics .......................................................... 47

Landing pages .............................................................. 48

What are the options? .................................................. 48

Social media ................................................................ 49

Facebook ....................................................................... 50

Twitter ............................................................................. 53

Instagram ....................................................................... 54

LinkedIn .......................................................................... 55

Social media scheduling ............................................ 56

What are the options? .................................................. 56

Chapter 2 checklist ..................................................... 57

Chapter 3: Delivery: great customer service .........59

How to consistently deliver above expectations .... 59

Standardisation: over-delivering’s best friend .......... 60

What are the options? .................................................. 62

Presenting your process diagrams .............................. 64

Standardisation tools .................................................... 65

Checklist tools ................................................................ 65

How to get started ........................................................ 67

What to do with all this information ............................ 68

Templates ..................................................................... 69

Customer Relationship Management Tools ............. 69

So what does a CRM tool do? .................................... 70

Why use a CRM tool? ................................................... 71

What are the options? .................................................. 73

HubSpot .......................................................................... 75

Keap ............................................................................... 75

Client communication ................................................ 76

What are the options? .................................................. 76

Creating content ......................................................... 77

Written content ............................................................. 78

Audio content ............................................................... 79

Video content ............................................................... 80

Webinars ........................................................................ 82

Online programmes and memberships ..................... 82

What are the ways of delivering an online course or

membership programme?........................................... 83

Events ............................................................................ 85

Publicity .......................................................................... 85

Booking systems ............................................................ 85

Chapter 3 checklist ..................................................... 87

Chapter 4: Behind the scenes: make your

life easier ................................................89

Keeping it all above board ........................................ 89

Things to think about ................................................... 89

Registering your business .............................................. 89

Insurance ....................................................................... 90

Data protection ............................................................ 90

Finance ......................................................................... 91

Bookkeeping vs accounting ........................................ 92

Accounting .................................................................... 93

The fi nance information you need to keep

track of ........................................................................... 93

Accounting tools ........................................................... 95

Getting paid .................................................................. 98

Information storage ................................................... 102

Physical storage .......................................................... 103

Cloud storage.............................................................. 104

The internet and computers ..................................... 107

Internet ......................................................................... 110

Browsers ........................................................................ 113

Extensions ..................................................................... 117

Email ............................................................................ 118

What sort of email do you want? .............................. 118

Choice of email address – webmail or

domain-based ............................................................. 118

Where to get a domain ............................................. 119

Email hosting ................................................................ 120

Email client ................................................................... 121

Calendars ................................................................... 131

Calendar options ........................................................ 132

Booking systems .......................................................... 139

Time and task management .................................... 141

Time management tools ............................................ 141

Time tracking ............................................................... 141

Task management ...................................................... 143

Simple tools .................................................................. 144

Offi ce tools ................................................................. 149

Word processing ......................................................... 151

Spreadsheets are cool ............................................... 152

Presentations ............................................................... 154

Cool tools .................................................................... 156

Make some space in your brain! Use a note tool ... 156

Make your business beautiful: design tools .............. 158

Capturing information: surveys and feedback ....... 159

Keep it safe… ............................................................. 165

What can you do? ...................................................... 166

Chapter 4 checklist ................................................... 168

Chapter 5: Bringing it all together .........................173

Choosing a new tool ................................................. 173

Requirements defi nition .............................................. 174

The ‘suck it and see’ method .................................... 175

Creating your action plan ........................................ 176

Sujets

• Entrepreneuriat
• entrepreneur
• Emprendedor
• Employabilité, métiers et formations
• management
• Entrepreneurship
• System
• Start-Up
• Small business
• Technology
• Economics
• Business

Informations

• Publié par: Practical Inspiration Publishing
• Date de parution: 19 septembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781788600972
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

First published in Great Britain by Practical Inspiration Publishing, 2019
Alice Jennings, 2019
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
ISBN 978-1-78860-099-6 (print)
978-1-78860-096-5 (mobi)
978-1-78860-097-2 (epub)
All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof, may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the author.
Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.
Contents
In the beginning
How to get the most from this book
1. Be realistic
2. Be committed
3. Be kind
Systems vs tools
How to use this book
1. To solve a specific problem
2. To help you plan your ideal business and then carry out the steps required to get there.
Chapter 1: Getting started
The SORTED Framework
Rule 1. All businesses have three departments
Rule 2. There are three stages of business
Before you start choosing your systems and tools
How will you do your work ?
What is your business ?
Chapter 1 checklist
Chapter 2: Client attraction: getting customers
Word of mouth
Offline advertising
Email marketing
What is email marketing ?
The rules of email marketing
What does an email marketing tool do ?
Which system to use ?
Moving on from free tools
Websites
Domain names and web hosting
What do you want from a website ?
What is the simplest way to get a website ?
Wordpress.com vs Wordpress.org
Measuring
Google Analytics
Landing pages
What are the options ?
Social media
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
LinkedIn
Social media scheduling
What are the options ?
Chapter 2 checklist
Chapter 3: Delivery: great customer service
How to consistently deliver above expectations
Standardisation: over-delivering s best friend
What are the options ?
Presenting your process diagrams
Standardisation tools
Checklist tools
How to get started
What to do with all this information
Templates
Customer Relationship Management Tools
So what does a CRM tool do ?
Why use a CRM tool ?
What are the options ?
HubSpot
Keap
Client communication
What are the options ?
Creating content
Written content
Audio content
Video content
Webinars
Online programmes and memberships
What are the ways of delivering an online course or membership programme ?
Events
Publicity
Booking systems
Chapter 3 checklist
Chapter 4: Behind the scenes: make your life easier
Keeping it all above board
Things to think about
Registering your business
Insurance
Data protection
Finance
Bookkeeping vs accounting
Accounting
The finance information you need to keep track of
Accounting tools
Getting paid
Information storage
Physical storage
Cloud storage
The internet and computers
Internet
Browsers
Extensions
Email
What sort of email do you want ?
Choice of email address - webmail or domain-based
Where to get a domain
Email hosting
Email client
Calendars
Calendar options
Booking systems
Time and task management
Time management tools
Time tracking
Task management
Simple tools
Office tools
Word processing
Spreadsheets are cool
Presentations
Cool tools
Make some space in your brain! Use a note tool
Make your business beautiful: design tools
Capturing information: surveys and feedback
Keep it safe
What can you do ?
Chapter 4 checklist
Chapter 5: Bringing it all together
Choosing a new tool
Requirements definition
The suck it and see method
Creating your action plan
In the beginning
How to get the most from this book
Most people pick up a book like this because they want to make changes. I know I do, and I also know how easy it is read an inspiring book that leaves me feeling like I need an extra month in the year just to get started with the ideas that are then buzzing around my head.
It is so easy to get sucked in by some great ideas only to find yourself quickly overwhelmed. Suddenly it stops feeling like a great way to transform your business and starts to feel like a huge mountain to climb while wearing stilettos, and it s much easier to grab a pack of Hobnobs and have a quick scroll through Instagram to get over it. Phew.
I don t want this to happen to you so please, please follow these guidelines:
1. Be realistic
If you only have a spare two hours a week you are not going to get very far trying to do something from every chapter. Start by picking a couple of easy to action quick wins to buy you a little extra time and then use that time to take further actions towards your goals and see how that goes.
Every time you complete something you will feel like a productivity ninja, which will give you a boost and help you to get on the next step towards a business that is super slick. Then pick the next small step and repeat. The small steps will add up and before you know it, you ll be fully systemised and without the horrible feeling of overwhelm.
2. Be committed
I really wish that the mere act of reading this book could give you a super-slick business. Sadly, it can t. This is because systems are like Zumba.
When my first child was a few months old, I bought a Zumba CD. I was excited about dancing around the lounge reclaiming my pre-baby body. Unfortunately, it didn t work. I didn t do the work; the DVD is gathering dust next to the TV and I have a distinctly bubble-wrapped six pack.
Does this mean that Zumba doesn t help you to reclaim your pre-baby body ? No. It means that I didn t do the work. System stuff is very similar. Does it work ? Yes, but only if you do the work. It really doesn t matter how little time you feel you have to commit. Half an hour a week is a great start. It adds up to 26 hours a year, or more than three working days. Could you make changes in your business that would have a positive impact if you stopped everything else and focused for three days ? You bet you could.
3. Be kind
It s easy to be a bad boss when you work for yourself. People who were perfectly lovely bosses in previous roles become the boss from hell when they are working for themselves. Do any of these seem familiar:
Working ridiculous hours ?
Regularly working at weekends ?
Not paying yourself ?
No lunch breaks ?
No pension ?
No proper holidays (without email checking!)?
No training ?
No bonuses or perks to speak of ?
It s common to see small business owners treating themselves like this, striving to build the best business they can. Often it has completely the opposite effect, resulting in underperformance because of tiredness and lack of balance.
Try to structure the systems in your business so that they reward you for the hard work and effort that you put in. If you get a new client, give yourself a 20 cash bonus to spend on something frivolous. If you do your accounts for the month on time, then go for a walk in your favourite spot as a reward.
Working for yourself is a privilege and many of us don t make the most of it, getting stuck in the ways of employment that we learnt in a corporate role. If you want to walk your dog three times a day then make that a fixture in your diary so that you don t plan other things in. And if you don t make it happen, then be kind and try again the next day.
Systems vs tools
Throughout this book I will be talking about systems and tools. There are many ways to define both of these words but for the purposes of this book I will be talking about them like this:
A system : a way of doing something, a series of steps that you take to get to an outcome.
A tool : a piece of software or equipment that you use to get something done.
A tool could be a computer or piece of software, but without the system which defines how it works it s just an object. Think of a kettle: making a cup of tea requires a system of getting cups and teabags and boiling the kettle. The kettle itself is just a tool within that system and could, if required, be replaced by a pan of boiling water or an urn. The outcome remains the same even though different tools can be used.
How to use this book
There are two ways to use this book.
1. To solve a specific problem
If you just want to know about a specific type of system or technology then check out the contents and skip straight to that section. Each chapter is designed to work alone and give you an idea of your options.
2. To help you plan your ideal business and then carry out the steps required to get there
While targeting a problem in a specific area of your business can take the pressure off for a short time, you will get best results if you look at your business as a whole.
This is how I help my one-to-one clients; we start by looking at their business and I help them to choose the best systems for their business. Realising that not everyone has the resources to work with me individually, this book has translated that service into a book, with worksheet