/U;/U/U – USA;/U/U – AUS;/U/U – NZ;/U/Productivity;/U/U – UK;/U/U – ZA;/U/U – AUS/16-09;/U/U – NZ/16-09;/U/U – UK/16-09;/U/U – USA/16-09;

What makes a successful small business?

You’ve probably seen daunting statistics about the high failure rate of small businesses. Many don’t make it to their fifth birthday – and yet the entrepreneurial spirit fights on. Those small businesses that survive provide a big chunk of GDP and go on to employ most of the workforce.

So what separates the ones that boom from the ones that go bust?

Researching good traits for a small business owner

We surveyed 2000 current and former small business owners from the US and UK. Some had succeeded, others had failed. We took all their answers and looked for patterns. Here are the characteristics that defined the two groups.

Strakka Racing is a small motorsport company that cannot afford to miss deadlines. Nobody holds up a race if you aren’t on the grid. You are out, pure and simple.

Motorsport is an industry built around efficiency, which may sound contradictory in the context of today’s extravagant Formula 1 budgets, but the point is that everyone has to do as much as they can with the resources they have. Whether it be getting the most performance from a limited budget, the most mileage from a tank of fuel, the most laps out of the tyres or the most downforce from an amount of aerodynamic drag. Motorsport is all about maximum efficiency and this is where a lot of other sectors can learn from our approach. Other industries are not only transferring technology but also the skills off the track. Manufacturing processes even operating theatres are learning efficiency improvements from race teams.

Here are five ways we look to increase our performance on track, whilst applying those learnings to also apply to our business:

Invest in people and then forge a strong team.

If everyone pulls in the same direction it takes remarkably little effort. We’ve got some of the best motorsport engineers and mechanics. Many could easily work in F1 but we’ve tried to create an environment that will keep them in sports cars. We’ll get them to train together, practice pit stops and then all have some downtime together at the end of the day.

Communicate from the top of the business to the bottom and back up again.

Most problems are solved by understanding the issues from each person’s point of view. At the start of each race day, we get everyone to huddle around the car and talk about the day, issues, opportunities. Everyone can speak or suggest something. It’s an open forum.

Continually improve.

“That’s the way we’ve always done it.” isn’t enough for any business. We all have to do more with less to succeed. At Strakka we embraced additive manufacturing or 3D Printing. At first, our engineers were sceptical but after trialling a few pieces, our mindset changed and we started a project to look where else we could apply the technology. It invigorates thinking to bring in a new technology.

Treat deadlines as deadlines and not as loose targets.

It’s the way motorsport operates as should all other businesses. We’ve set a rigorous plan for our next project. It meant we couldn’t deliver our original plan of an all new car but it is best to stick to a plan and deliver.

Start now; getting the hard work done early allows time for refinement and perfection.

I’m finding a list of ‘things to do’ pad by my desk and ticking them off helps me to prioritise actions and cross them off, one by one. You can get satisfaction by seeing your targets achieved on track or on paper!

One of our key motivations for getting involved with Xero was to adapt a more efficient way of managing the finance behind what we do. We need our maximum focus to be on our on-track activities to ensure that every time the car is running, it is as fast and reliable as it can be. The more efficient we can be with our accounts, our finance and our customers, the more we can deliver with our results.

So the only whooshing noises we hear at Strakka Racing are those of the cars travelling as fast as they can.

Digital technologies have turned trust an imperative currency of the new economy. So what does this mean for the world of accounting and bookkeeping?

Xero asked global thought leader Rachel Botsman, whose expertise in the area of trust is undisputed, to share her insights. Botsman’s seminal book What’s Mine is Yours originated the theory of collaborative consumption and was later recognised by TIME as one of the ‘10 Ideas that Will Change the World’.

Speaking today at Xerocon South in Brisbane – a conference dedicated to the fast-moving world of cloud-based accounting – she spoke of the shift and its implications for the future.

“Technology is enabling trust between strangers in ways never seen before,” Botsman said.

“Trust is the bridge between the known and the unknown. If you want to create trust in any organisation, you have to reduce the unknown.”

Citing Uber, Airbnb and BlaBlaCar as examples of commercial platforms that helped create and leverage the trust economy, Botsman addressed the profound business and social implications these business models have generated.

“Technology is enabling us to take a trust leap – and we are being asked to leap further than ever before. A trust leap happens when we take a risk to do something new or differently to the way we’ve always done it,” she said.

“A trust leap happens when we take a risk to do something new or differently to the way we’ve always done it. At first, it seems risky. But over time trust leaps become normal and disruption happens.

“Trust is what drives change. Trust is a conduit for ideas to flow.”

As traditional chains of trust move away from institutions and into the hands of individuals, grey areas of privacy, identity and risk emerge. Botsman explained that traditional notions of institutional trust wasn’t designed for the digital age.

“We’re seeing a shift happening from a closed, top-down and centralized expectation to a model which is transparent inclusive and based on real accountability,” she said.

In the digital age, building trust is about increasing the likelihood that things will go right and being there for you when things go wrong. It’s about being competent, reliable and honest.

“The measure of trust is reputation. A reputation is the sum of what a community thinks of you,” Botsman says. “Our online reputation is changing our behaviours in the real world in ways we cannot even imagine. Reputation is going to become a currency more powerful than our credit scores in the real world.”

Conventions of trust are being turned upside down by technology and it means we need to rethink how trust is built and maintained.

Clock in

The first step in creating a home office is separating your work from your day-to-day life. An easy way to do this is to have a morning routine. Don’t work from your bed or stay in your pajamas all day. Treat your home office as you would any other office. If you’re living in a small space, doing little things like making the bed or tucking the TV remote out of sight can do a lot to help your brain switch gears. Also, don’t fall into the trap of waking up and having your breakfast sitting in front of your computer. Carve out the time for yourself to relax and have your breakfast or coffee before you jump into work. It will be another way to signal to your brain that you’re switching from home to work.

Another way to help you be more productive when working from home is ensuring you’re working the right hours. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Optimize your schedule by altering your sleep schedule to so you’re at work during your most productive hours.

Setting up for success

Once you’ve clocked in it’s time to get your office set up. Ideally you would have your own room for this, but most of us don’t have the luxury of a dedicated office. Find an area of your home that has limited distractions, or the right kind of distractions. A lot of people like to face their desk toward a window so they can look outside. Try and face your workspace away from your TV or an any other distractions. You don’t want to be looking at a reminder of others things you could be doing.

If you’re really tight on space you can use something called Activity Based Working where you find the right area for each task. This could be responding to email in your recliner, catching up on Twitter at the table, and searching for your next gig while at your desk. Depending on what tools you need for everything you do, you can find an area that suits each. For instance, you can browse Twitter on your phone or a tablet, so you don’t necessarily need your laptop, this means you can do it from a chair without having to have your computer on your lap.

Dividing up your work by area will also help you get less distracted. If you only check Twitter at your table you can break yourself from the habit of checking it in between responding to emails and searching for another gig.

There’s other ways to break up your day to improve efficiency. A popular time management system is the Pomodoro Technique. This technique requires you to set a timer for 25 minute intervals. You work for 25 mins and then take a break, with longer breaks every four cycles. The idea is that mini deadlines will force you to complete each task before the buzzer goes off. If you do work that requires longer per task you can always change the time limit. Or you can change the time based on the task you’re trying to complete. For instance, give yourself 30 mins to address all the new emails in your inbox. When the timer goes off you have to move on to a different task. This will stop you from languishing over the perfect responses or leaving the most important emails to last.

If you really can’t break from the distractions you can try apps like Freedom that will temporarily disable your wifi while you work. Or try working in a single tab opened the full size of the screen. This will limit the things you can see while you’re trying to concentrate. If it’s the analog that’s distracting you there are ways around that too. If you find yourself tidying up before you work, or suddenly getting the urge to organize all your files when you’re supposed to be filing your expenses, it may be time to declutter. Don’t give your mind anything else latch onto when it’s supposed to be working. If you’re still having a problem, refer to our first tip to find a way to create a distraction free workspace.

Clock out

This one seems obvious, but it’s something less and less people are doing with the rise of mobile technology. When you’ve hit the end of your day, be done. It’s common for people who work from home to still be dabbling while they make dinner, watch TV or tuck the kids in bed. Just shutting down your computer isn’t enough.

Like creating a ritual to signify you’re going into your office, you need a similar one for ending your day. Whether it’s putting aside all technology for a few minutes to think, going for a walk around the block, or leaving the house to run a few errands, your brain needs the separation. Once you’ve completed the ritual, don’t move back into your workspace for the rest of the night.

By optimizing your home office you can make the most of your most precious commodity, time. It’s important to work more efficiently so the hours you’re putting into your business are yielding the greatest results.

Whether you’re just starting out in the field service industry or you’ve been in it for years, there’s a chance you’re overlooking some very important aspects in your everyday workflow. A minor adjustment to the way you work might make more of a change than you realise.

So, we’re about to dig deep in your pockets, find that $20 – and rejoice!

To do that, I’m going to take look at something that you might do every day: booking jobs. But what could you possibly be doing wrong with something so straightforward?

When booking jobs, you need to cover all the bases: the Who, What, Where and When. Otherwise, you could be wasting time and money through lost productivity and less-than-happy customers and employees.

By keeping these four Ws of job creation in mind, you can ensure happy, productive employees, happier customers, and a happier you, as you get paid for your services faster.

Who

First up, you must understand who you’re dealing with. Is the customer a company or an individual? A non-for-profit organisation? Are they authorised to approve the work; that is, are they a tenant or the property owner, or a company representative? Will they be the one who’ll pay?

Establishing who will be paying for the work being carried out is important for two reasons: 1) so you can confirm that the job has indeed been authorised, and 2) so that you won’t be chasing who’s going to pay you after the job is complete – putting an unnecessary strain on your all-important cash flow.

What

Have you made a note of everything the customer has asked for? Including every detail of the job – even the minutiae – can help ensure the technician has enough time to get the job done and that he or she is equipped with the right materials to complete the job on their first visit. So, instead of simply writing, ‘Fix light,’ include a bit more detail: ‘The flood light under the eaves on the second storey isn’t working.’

Ask the customer questions if you’re unsure – it’s better to be thorough. You might even want to speak to your technicians to see if they experience regular issues that could easily be resolved with more information.

Where

It may seem simple, but are you sure that you’re sending your technicians to the right place? It’s frustrating for both customers and technicians when work is late, especially due to avoidable mistakes such as incorrect addresses.

Equally as important are the conditions at the worksite. Should your techs be aware of any special circumstances? If so, make sure they know about them before they get there.

Let them know that the driveway is hidden. Let them know that they should watch out for the malicious guard dog (there are better ways to deal with a difficult employee…). Are there any site inductions they need to know about?

In simPRO, you can make all of these notes in the Notes section when you schedule a job, and the technician scheduled to the job will be able to see this on their mobile devices before they attend.

When

Sometimes, you’ll first need to find out when the customer wants the job completed. If the customer is time-short, for example, or has an urgent job that needs tending to, this should be the first aspect to determine. Can you have a tech available tomorrow afternoon?

With the handy scheduling and mapping tools in simPRO, you can easily find the nearest suitable technician for the job, ensure he or she has the right materials and schedule them to the job.
Make sure your customer knows to be available at the right time, so your technician isn’t left waiting for someone to turn up.

While it might be just a small change to the way you work, keeping all of these aspects in mind when booking jobs can have a huge impact on your productivity, customer service, and cash flow.

So, keep the small wins in mind and always, always order your pizza on cheap Tuesday.