Why did you start your own business? It’s a question that comes up time and again. Often, the answer is ‘to do more of what I love, on my own terms’. But somewhere along the way, the reality of that idea shifts. The day-to-day demands of running a business and keeping of top of admin, finances, HR, logistics, etc., start to take over, leaving little room for the work that inspired the leap in the first place.
It’s a common story. And if you’re a business owner, it might sound all too familiar. So, is it possible to find your way back to your original purpose? We think so. In this blog, we’re sharing 12 practical tips that will help you streamline the stress and refocus on what you do best.
1. Have an up-to-date business plan
I say it all the time. Too many businesses do not have an up-to-date business plan. It’s often seen as a chore that doesn’t bring much value, but in all our experience of working with growing businesses, it really is worth it.
Why? A business plan answers questions about the future (which is precisely where anxiety comes from). It tells you how much profit you should be making, what your costs should be, how much new business you should be getting in, what your overheads should look like, if you should be hiring new staff, when you should lease equipment, and so much more.
We don’t believe in overly complicated business plans, so keep it simple and make sure it’s up to date!
2. Outsource your payroll and VAT
Payroll is time-consuming and easy to get wrong. It needs to be done on time every month (or weekly in some sectors). From producing payslips to uploading the payment file to the bank and then going on to ROS to do your taxes, payroll can eat up valuable hours from your workday. Which is precisely why it is the perfect problem to outsource!
VAT is also one of those tasks that can quietly drain hours from your week and energy from your day. It’s fiddly, deadline-driven, and unforgiving – mistakes can lead to penalties, interest charges, or unwelcome attention from Revenue. Outsourcing your VAT returns frees you from navigating ever-changing rules, ensures compliance, and gives you back valuable time to focus on running your business.
For five hours a month, our bookkeepers can take payroll and VAT returns off your hands and it’ll cost a little over €200.
3. Have a prudent cash reserves
It’s essential to always have access to enough cash to cover between three and six months of costs. This means that even if you didn’t make ANY sales for the next three to six months, you would still have enough money to cover bills, rent, salaries, and the other essentials required to keep the lights on.
Easier said than done, right? Well, cash reserves can mean money in the bank or access to an overdraft facility. We always say that it’s best to look for an overdraft when times are good rather than when you really need it. Not only are banks risk-averse, but their processing time is generally slow, so make sure to cover yourself well in advance.
4. Automate your collections and credit control
Cash is a huge stressor for business owners. If you don’t have enough cash or there’s no cash coming in or someone hasn’t paid you, it can feel like you’re are constantly on the brink of a crisis. Luckily, there are fantastic applications arriving on the market all the time with the sole purpose of solving this very problem.
Chaser and Xero are two brilliant products for chasing debt and, for automated collections, you have Stripe and GoCardless. You’ll still have to give attention to credit control, but it will be a lot less when these tools do the bulk of the work for you.
5. Share your responsibilities
Business owners often assume that cash and profit are things you can’t talk about with your team because it is giving away too much information. But if you include them in the conversation, you can spread the responsibility of making the business a success. I don’t mean you have to share every detail of your finances, but if you show your team the bigger picture they will develop a sense of shared purpose and have something concrete to strive for.
Some of the key information I would share would be the KPIs you are currently focusing on, your profit margin, your growth in sales and your overheads. A problem shared is a problem halved and more people working to solve that problem can only help.
6. Keep your numbers up to date
Being in the dark when it comes to your finances is a prime trigger for stress. We’ve already explained why you need a business plan, but it’s equally, if not more, important to have your books in order. Having a process for ensuring your bookkeeping is kept up to date is going to tell you what is happening in your business right now.
Systems such as Xero are designed to provide real-time information at your fingertips: what your profit margin is, who owes you money, who you owe money to, and what’s in the bank today. The key to overcoming challenges is knowing where they are to begin with. Read more of my tips for having real-time accounting.
7. Concentrate on activities instead of results
Worrying about missed targets won’t bring you any closer to hitting them. Yet many business owners fall into the trap of obsessing over outcomes – sales figures, revenue, growth rates – and forget to pay enough attention to the day-to-day actions that actually drive those results.
This is why understanding the different types of KPI is essential. Lagging KPIs reflect what’s already happened, like revenue or profit. Leading KPIs indicate future performance, like your pipeline or website traffic. But it’s activity KPIs – sales calls made, proposals sent, campaigns launched – that you can directly control. Shifting your focus to activity KPIs puts you back in the driver’s seat, allowing you to actively influence outcomes instead of passively waiting for them.
8. Streamline and gamify your business systems
Do you find that you’re the only person in the office able to send an invoice or check inventory? It’s easy to fall into the trap of doing everything because no one but you understands how to work your clunky systems. But this isn’t a very efficient way to run a business. By streamlining day-to-day tasks, such as making up quotes or ensuring clients meet their payments, you can design efficient workflows and share responsibilities with your team.
Finance can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re juggling ROS, accounts, spreadsheets, and cash flow all at once. That’s why it’s great that platforms like Xero have changed the game by making finance more accessible and intuitive. These tools present information in a clear, user-friendly way, allowing you and your team to access essential financial data from anywhere, on any device, and tackle tasks more efficiently. It all helps turn a daunting to-do list into manageable steps.
9. Increase the price of your product or service
Early-stage businesses often try to win market share by offering generous discounts and introductory rates. When it’s just you in your business you can get away with this for a while, but once you have a team around you – and the overheads that come with it – there is a real danger of giving away too much for too little.
If you’ve arrived at the point where your revenue isn’t adequately covering your costs, it could be time to increase your prices. When was the last time you reviewed your pricing and packages? An annual cost increase of 3% – 4% is accepted and expected in most industries. While bad clients may leave you because they were only ever with you for the discount, good clients will not be so price-sensitive because they do not mind paying for value.
10. Push back with your staff
What kind of management style do you have? While it’s nice to be nice, if you’re finding your soft management style is being taken advantage of by your team then it could be time to shake things up. These situations don’t necessarily occur with malicious intent, but rather can happen subconsciously when staff members are kept at a distance from the stresses and strains of keeping a business running.
It’s important that your team knows what is at stake. To get your team in the right frame of mind you may have to push back and remind people that they are here because they have a job to do. If you are paying the market rate for a fair contribution, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be demanding a strong output from your team.
Lots of useful advice about leading and managing teams can be found in our Rockefeller Habits series, including How The Right Leaders Help You Scale, How To Ensure Your Teams Are Your Best Asset, and What Does It Take To Be A Successful Manager?
11. Get a business or finacial coach
Getting a business coach is a great idea for anyone running their own business. By having an experienced professional coach on your side, you get access to valuable business insights while also being challenged on your assumptions about your business. It’s easy to develop blind spots when you’re deep in the trenches!
A business coach (sometimes known as a financial coach) can help you see the big picture because they’re not locked onto the nitty-gritty of day-to-day tasks. It does take some gumption to go out and find a coach because it involves asking for help. But an hour or two per month with an experienced guide can be transformative for your business because you get a chance to tackle head-on those pesky problems that are keeping you awake at night.
12. Ensure your company is properly capitalised
Growing companies require money. This may sound counterintuitive, but it really isn’t! From the outside, if you see a company growing from €2 million to €10 million, you might assume they are making a good profit. But the reality is that it probably takes a €2 million to €3 million investment to get that company to make this kind of growth.
Where does this money come from? There are two ways a company can access this investment fund -via debt or equity. The problem with loans from banks and creditors (debt) is that as soon as you have them you need to pay them back, which puts stress on your cash flow. Equity, which comes from yourself, your staff, or a venture capitalist/angel investor, is far less risky but it does come with a dilution of your proportion of ownership. Relying too heavily on either is not best practice and we advise a 50/50 mix.
While there is no single magic cure-all for business stress, if you can apply even half of these tips to your business, we’re convinced you’ll see a difference and hopefully you’ll be inspired to further tweak your processes for even more effective results!
