Michelle asked in another thread what our cost-savings tips are, or how we use our time more efficiently. Share how you've cut costs or found time in your business!

Lisa,

Finding time for me is to prioritize what I need to get done in a day’s time - I make lists and for the most part stick to them. I always have more to do in a day’s time than I can do and if I don't have a list I tend to wonder and let the phone calls manage my day. When I owned my spa, on any busy day, if I had a choice of doing business or taking a "walk-in" I would opt for the friendly customer. I learned to stick to my list and find another way to handle the, perhaps more fun, walk in customer. By not getting the business done daily I would suffer and so would the business.

I'm definetly a list maker, it allows my brain space to be free for other things. Since I can't take in information business and news with a fire hose, I have to prioritize with lists and schedules. It sounds simple, but think about how much time you allow yourself to get side tracked from a project with employees, or kids calling from home with a problem. If you can prioritize critical projects, with not so critical you will be suprised how much you can get done, but just focusing on one project at a time. We all love to multi task, but really we are just working harder, and making more mistakes doing it because of our distraction. We're not computers after all.

You may even track each task throughout your day (be honest) and see where you are losing time. Don't take work home from the spa, it will still be there tomorrow. Taking time away from your personal life will not only burn you out, but possibly make you bitter. Manage your time effectively, and you won't have to take work home.

Have a personal assistant do tasks such as summarizing reading, reports, and doing research. It's time consuming, and you probably could be using you industry expertise otherwise.

A lot of lists! I have an A, B, and C list. A is for things that are a priority. B is for things that are need my attention but aren't urgent. C is for ongoing projects and future planning. I want to redo my retail area - that's a C because it's not that important right now. Getting my overdue promotional postcard out is definitely an A!
If I don't have these lists, I'll spend too much time on C things and not enought on A things.

I've also started to make a list of things errands that I'll run once a month. For example, I'll (try) to go to Target on the first Monday of the month and I'll always buy detergent, tp, etc. My list always contains the essentials so I never run out.

I bought baskets to organize my home office. I don't like clutter, so everything has a place so I can clear my desk. This way I can take the "bills" basket once a week and take care of that, rather than having the bills piled on my desk making me anxious. I have a basket with order forms that I add to during the month and then try to call or fax my order every couple weeks.

I also email clients a lot. They really like appointment confirmations via email. I can do this early in the morning or late at night without bothering my clients, rather than during my busy day.

Some really great tips kilgoran! I've got a long "to do"list, but having seperate lists is something I will definately do.

And doing confirmation by e-mail would definately be a time saver for me! I'd just be concerned that some people don't check their e-mail often enough, but I'm willing to give that a try.

I have a place on the client intake form where they can let me know if they prefer to be contacted via email or phone. I also ask my clients if email confirmations would work for them and make a note of it in their file. You could also make a note of it on your callender if they can receive confirmaitions via email.

I also send reminder emails to people who can't book 4-6 weeks out because their schedule changes so much. I usually send an email the week before they want to come in and we book it then. They love the reminder and email feels less intrusive to me than a phone call.

'Just talked with Roger Metz from Cardservice International....he beat my current rates I'm paying for credit card processing, and I can get a tip function, to boot! I am getting information on the Gift Card program. I spend a lot of money on GC's and packaging to make them fun.... a free way to save money- gotta LOVE that!