The farther you go along in your business journey and the more it grows, the less time you’ll have to manually do many tasks. Thankfully there are many apps and tools available to help you get things done with very little energy or effort.
If you’re a solopreneur, automating as much as you can is even more important so your business can run without you even when you’re asleep or on vacation.
If you’re ready to release the stress and pressure of doing everything manually, implement these 5 simple steps to make automation work for you.
1 – Make a List of All You Currently Do
The first key step in making progress in anything is having greater awareness. It’s easy to be so busy doing a variety of “things” that you don’t have an accurate understanding of what you actually do on a regular basis. Create a document and “brain dump” all that you do daily, weekly, and monthly. This exercise open your eyes to all the little things that add up to big things and take a lot of your time and energy to accomplish.
2 – Research the Tools Available to Automate Your Tasks
Once you have a good list of the tasks you do, begin looking for tools to help you do them easier or faster through automation. CLICK HERE for a list of tools that we’ve found extremely helpful in growing our businesses. Knowing which tools are available to utilize is a critical step for having a better grasp on your business.
3 – Implement One Tool at a Time to Grow in Confidence
Beware overwhelming yourself with trying to do too much too fast. Different people have different speeds to which they can implement. If you can handle a lot at one time, that’s great. Test various tools to see which work best for you. However, if you get overwhelmed easily, chip away by testing one tool at a time. See how it works. Understand the ins and outs of it. Get comfortable with it so you confidence can build over time. Then, move onto the next and the next.
4 – Assess and Fine-Tune Your Automation Regularly
While many of the automation tools available can be a “set it and forget it” exercise, we encourage you to check on things consistently to ensure that they are working properly. Technology glitches do happen so you want to stay on top of things so you’re not missing out on sales or frustrating prospects. Schedule time in your calendar regularly to do a quick check-up to make sure things are functioning properly. As new features are added to various tools, find ways to fine-tune your specific needs for greater effectiveness.
5 – Find New Tasks to Automate
After you’ve worked through your initial list of items to automate, go back to step #1 and start again. Over time you’ll realize there are more tasks you can release from your daily workload to new technologies. Tools and apps that don’t exist to help you today will be available in the future. The more you automate, the more freedom and peace of mind you’ll have.
Automation tools can be intimidating when you’re first starting out. Many new entrepreneurs are unsure of what’s even available. That’s why it’s so important to be surrounded by like-minded people who are testing and implementing new technologies in their businesses. You don’t just need skills to be successful, you also need a community of growing, successful entrepreneurs to expose you to new ideas, tips, and tools.
If you aren’t a part of a community like that, we invite you to check out our Design Launch Grow coaching and training program. This in-depth program offers a supportive community of like-minded entrepreneurs, as well as, an all-access pass to an expansive vault of training videos, live weekly coaching calls, and monthly online workshops that will give you additional training on real-time topics to help you grow your business. Join us at Design Launch Grow today!