Everyone has wished for more than 24 hours in a day at some point in time or the other. Actually, you can not add hours to the day but we can definitely get more work done at the same time. A franchise business is a fixed format business, which means that all the processes are fixed. It also means that all the work needs to be done on time. Whether you are a franchisor or a franchisee, a lot depends on how much work you can get done in a day.
A franchisor will have a lot of meetings with franchisors, suppliers, investors, consultants apart from a lot of paperwork. He will need time with his employees too. Not to mention the quality time one needs for the family. In order to ensure that there is time for everything, he needs to utilize his time in a very efficient way.
There are a few points that can help one to manage time.
Prioritize: On any given day, an entrepreneur will have a lot of tasks to do. Some of them are more urgent than other tasks. He should have a list ready with all the tasks and the timeframe in which all of them need to be completed. Not only the franchisor but all members of the team should have a list of priorities ready. Everyone should be on the same page regarding the order of importance of all the different tasks that are to be done.
Many studies say that though it may look like a person is working all day, he actually may have very little output to show. This is because of a lack of prioritization. People often end up doing unimportant things that can wait and suddenly find that they are late on other important schedules.
Use Management tools: Tools can help you to manage your time. These can be a simple set of tools such as a calendar, a notepad, sticky notes, and alarms. These are simple tools that will help you to remember appointments, remind you to do different things and be in time for the meetings.
There are many mobile apps that will give you the same tools in a digital version. It is easier to access and link all the digital tools for time management. The apps allow you to link your email to the calendar and set timers and reminders.
Free time: Do not keep your days packed in and out all the time. Keep some time in the morning and sometime in the evening free, every day. If you have these slots available, you will easily find time for things that come up without any prior notice but are too important to be ignored. Don’t make that period too long or it can become a habit.
This will also give your employees an idea of when to approach you for unscheduled talks. Also, have a list of work to do that you can do in this time if no demands on your time are made.
You can have a free day marked out too so that you can use it to do things that you want to do for franchise development. Just ensure that you are not tempted to use up free time doing nothing.
Hire staff such that you can delegate: When you hire someone, always make it a point to thoroughly carry out the processes of interview and tests. Even if you have to pay a little higher to an employee, it is better than recruiting someone who can not do the job on his own. Actually, you should be confident that the employee will do a better job than yourselves. Sometimes, franchisors tend to back off from some candidate that seems to be smarter and more experienced than themselves.
Ensure that the managers are involved with everything associated with all the aspects of your business so that they can carry on business in your absence. This will save you a lot of worries.
You can not do all the tasks yourselves so develop the habit of delegation early on. If you begin with the normal tasks, you will be to depend on them to finish important tasks in a successful way. For this, you also have to learn to trust people and their ability to get a job done.
Break goals into small tasks: Big goals cannot be achieved in a day. One step every day will take you close to your goals before you realize it. To do this successfully, first of all, mark your goals. Now, take up one goal and break it into many small tasks. Then, schedule one task to be finished every day. Suppose, you need to find a new supplier, one day sit down and draw up a tender. The next day, scan the sector for good suppliers. The third day you can fix up a few meetings. In. This way, in a month' s time, your goals would be achieved.
Be organized: Misplaced things and documents make for a lot of delays and waste of time. Not filing away documents properly right from the start of business results in a huge mess. It takes a lot of time to set out the documents and because you don’t have the time to sort them out, you end up wasting time each time you need any documents
Not being able to trace the required documents also results in a lot of postponements of required tasks. In such a situation, one feels frustrated and slowly develops a habit of procrastination. A lot of business opportunities are lost in the meantime which results in a negative impact upon the bottom line of the business.
Time tracking tools: There are various tools and apps online, that help us to track where our time is being utilized. By tracking our time for a month we can know the activities which are repetitive and taking up most of the time. If these activities can be cut down or done more efficiently, time can be saved.
A franchisor needs to understand that he needs to spend time working on the business too apart from working in the business all the time. There are too many activities that need to be completed on a regular basis in a fixed format business. If the activities are sorted out properly, the routine activities can be done by an employee that has the required skills to do it. The activities that require special expertise should be outsourced. Outsourcing often helps in reducing the cost and getting the task done quickly.
When everybody in the team values each other's time, they will ensure that everything is done on time. It is a way to get work done or a culture in an organization. The earlier one ensures that time management practices are encouraged and entrenched in the functioning of the business, the better the results will show. As the leader of the business organization, it is up to you to take the lead. If you are unorganized, wasting time in unimportant matters, the team will follow suit. But, you can set an ideal example by showing efficient time management yourselves. A leader in a franchise business should always be a source of inspiration for all the employees and franchisees that work together for profit.
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