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How to juggle a small business and still have a social life


If your definition of work-life balance looks like taking customer phone calls while desperately trying to fix a leak in your warehouse roof, and organise the kids’ school pick up, you might need to rethink your approach. We take a look at how you can juggle the responsibilities of running a small business, and still maintain some sanity, or at least manage to see friends and family once in a while.

Manage your time down to the minute

This very thought will make some people break into a sweat, while others will jump for joy at the prospect of colour-coded calendar event breakdowns. For the small business owner who isn’t ultra-organised, applications such as Google Calendar or iCal are designed to help. By syncing these apps to your smart phone, you’ll have a digital diary that goes everywhere you go, with handy push notifications that tell you when you have an appointment or deadline coming up. Making use of these apps can help you see when you have some time to lock in a coffee catch-up, group exercise class, or long overdue family visit. Several other time management tools that have stood the test of time are: the Pomodoro Technique and the Pareto Principle, the latter involves batching or grouping tasks in terms of importance, in order to prioritise them.

Make a work “contract” with yourself

Flexibility for small business owners can be in short supply; if your business solely relies on you to function then you not working means no cash. However, burning yourself out by working 24/7 won’t help either. Try creating a designated work/social time “contract” with yourself, such as no work every second weekend, or no screens after 6pm. You wouldn’t fault on a business contract, so don’t fault on one with yourself.

Create a designated work space

If you’re running your business from the edge of the kitchen table, you may find yourself more interested in the contents of your fridge than your business growth. If you work from home, it’s particularly important to set clear boundaries between work and social time by creating a designated workspace. Having a designated workspace can help to differentiate between work and home life and help you avoid that feeling of always being at work, or having work to do. Thinking of running a small business from home? Explore these 3 top tips to help get you started.

Do the things you can, pay someone to do the things you can’t

Too often small business owners feel like they have to do everything themselves. That’s often because of money constraints, but it puts a whole heap of pressure on you to excel at things that may not be within your capabilities. These things also tend to eat through more time than they should. Don’t be afraid to invest in a good accountant or financial planner, web developer, business advisor or small business lawyer if you think you need assistance in a specialised area. These trained professionals will be able to provide important advice on everything from financial risk management to achieving a positive cash flow.

Avoid headaches down the track with small business insurance

There’s nothing that will eat into your time – and spike stress levels – more than unexpected business-related losses. Business insurance can provide cover for unexpected events that impact your business, such as Public Liability Insurance, which can cover your legal liability for personal injury to another person who isn’t employed by you, or Commercial Vehicle Insurance, which can provide cover for theft, loss or damage to your business-use vehicle.

 

As a small business owner, you have enough to juggle without adding whether your business is covered or not. AAMI is a trusted insurer of over 70,000 Australian businesses, so you can trust that we may have options to suit your small business. Explore AAMI’s Small Business Insurance options or get a quick small business insurance quote online now and spend more time with those who matter most.   


Disclaimer: Insurance is issued by AAI Limited ABN 48 005 297 807 trading as AAMI Business Insurance. Any advice has been prepared without taking into account your particular objectives, financial situation or needs, so you should consider whether it is appropriate for you before acting on it. Please read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement before you make any decision regarding this product. The Target Market Determination is also available.

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