Have a small business, or thinking of starting one? These inspiring entrepreneurs share their top tips for boosting your businesses with minimal effort!
Running a small business definitely ain’t easy! Things could start out well, but what can you do if it gets a little…too quiet? As mums, we’re often stretched thin and may not always be up for networking or anything too tech-related for our business! These Launchpad entrepreneurs share the small actions they did that require minimal effort but created maximum impact for their businesses.
Aga Gajownik, Director of Innovation & Integration
My ADHD brain gets very lost in details and long to-do lists, so I spent over 14 years working on my business to develop a list of little tasks that make a big impact with minimal effort! Here are five top tips:
Be strategic: Spend 15 minutes each week to look at your to-do list and decide which tasks are really important and urgent or most impactful and connected to bigger goals.
Automate meetings: I use Calendly hooked to my Google Calendar to send my availability to people for meetings. It saves a lot of time spent on messaging back and forth.
Avoid meetings in person: Be very selective which interaction really needs a meeting and which one can be done using a call, email or WhatsApp message.
Have an online document for social media braindump: All good ideas happen away from my laptop, so I keep them in a single document which I pull up when planning my calendar.
Forget context switching: I divide my week into working blocks that focus on very specific tasks. Once I am in the middle of my “sprint” nothing has the right to distract me!
Anna Seefeldt, Founder & Brand Strategist of Pink Pineapple Branding
One of the most underrated yet powerful business tips is to take a walk and speak your thoughts into your phone while recording them. Doing this helps you to immediately slow down, clear your thoughts and catch all those random ideas that might otherwise get lost in the hustle. While you walk, just let your mind wander and be creative so your thoughts flow. Later, use an AI tool to transcribe and structure these thoughts into actionable ideas. This simple process allows you to naturally refresh your mind and, using technology, to organise your thoughts and facilitate productive brainstorming.
Puja Surtani, Director of Kay Ess Enterprises and Eastern Scent
Definitely plan your marketing calendar the year ahead to align with themes and festivals! Utilising themes from the marketing calendar to batch plan makes content creation so much easier. I like to dedicate a “Power Hour” to strategic planning or learning each week. Utilising virtual sticky notes on my desktop also helps to keep important information handy (yes, even boring stuff like ACRA details, contact information and more). And the most underrated yet important tip? Meal plannin! When healthy ingredients and meals are planned and available, the family is well fed and moods are better overall.
Lucy D’Ambrumenil, Managing Director of Phoenix Wills
Who else feels that as a business owning-mum, you try to do it all (often at once!), but it can end up being counter-productive? I know as women we’re supposed to be all about the multi-tasking, but perhaps controversially – I’m saying it’s not the answer! I try my best to focus on one task: whether it’s work or family, and try to work in 30-minute chunks. I suppose it’s my own version of the Pomodoro technique. Let’s face it, working for hours on end without a break is just unrealistic! Oh, and eating the frog. No, not an actual frog, but the concept of tackling that meaty task, at the start of the day, when your brain is fresh. Preferably with caffeine!
Nina Mucalov, Photographer at Nina Mucalov Photography
My first tip: celebrate your wins, the big and the tiny! Join a networking group you love and show up to events (online or in-person) at least once a month. Improve your relationship with money. As a business owner you need to be comfortable receiving, spending and talking about money. Two books I love are by Denise Duffield-Thomas and Jen Sincero. Build a business you love with boundaries that work for your life! I started my business with two young kids and set a max 25-hour work week. Share your expertise and your story (with a photo that ties it directly to you!).
Adelphia Lim, Founder of For The Love of Socials
At For The Love of Socials, where 90% of our clients are busy mums with young children, we understand the challenges of balancing business and family life. One underrated yet highly effective tip for improving your business with minimal effort is outsourcing. Specifically, delegating marketing tasks, which are often time-consuming, can have a significant impact. By allowing experts (like us!) to handle their marketing, business owners can free up valuable time to focus on what truly matters to them — whether growing their business or spending time with family. This approach optimises business operations and enhances personal well-being, making it a win-win situation!