As a tradie you work hard during the day, and when you re running your own business you probably find yourself working hard in the evenings and on weekends too. Along with meeting your clients needs, running a business also involves a lot of admin, from invoicing to preparing quotes, keeping your books up to date and more.

Many tradies feel like they are running themselves into the ground trying to do everything at once and this can impact their family life and health. If you can t keep up with the admin demands of the job, things can also get missed. Invoices that go out late or don t go out at all can seriously affect your cash flow, and quotes that take too long to prepare could see your potential customers going to your competitors.

The best way to avoid these problems is to find a way to increase your business productivity so you can do more in less time, but just how do you do this?

Here are a few of our top tips to help you increase your business productivity and avoid the many headaches that come with burning out.

  1. Time tracking.
    The first step to increasing your productivity is to figure out where exactly your time is going. By tracking your time each day you can see how much time you are spending on admin, working with clients, travelling, and everything else you do. This should give you a pretty clear idea of where you might be spending too much time for too little reward, and help you find ways to save time on unnecessary tasks or work more productively.
  2. Create systems.
    Systems can help you work more productively, and avoid mistakes. By finding the most efficient way to do a task and creating a process around it you can cut out a lot of time wastage and improve your overall business efficiency.
  3. Outsource where possible.
    Sometimes it makes sense to pay someone else to take on some of the admin, giving you more time to get out there and find more customers. If you have been tracking your time you should be able to see clearly if you are spending too much time on activities that aren t your area of expertise. Could you be doing something better and more profitable during that time? If so it might be time to look for some extra help.
  4. Use technology.
    From mobile apps and online ordering systems to mobile payments and cloud based accounting, technology can help your business become more productive, keep in better contact with your clients and colleagues and make routine tasks like ordering and invoicing a breeze.

Whatever type of tradie business you re running, you don t need to spend time doing admin when you should be out working and bringing in new business. Try these productivity tips to help you get your weekends back, and enjoy a more profitable and successful business.