What does it take to run a successful small business? From perseverance to organization, there are plenty of ingredients involved. But, most business owners will agree on this one: long hours.
With seemingly endless tasks, emails, phone calls, relationships, and commitments to juggle, small business owners dedicate the bulk of their time and energy to their businesses. Research conducted by Fundera states that 81% of business owners work nights and 89% work on the weekends.
Achieving work-life balance for small business owners can feel challenging, if not impossible, with only 25% of business owners saying they’re successfully able to unplug from work.
So, what can entrepreneurs do? Are they forced to accept that their businesses will consume all of their waking hours? Is that just part of the job? Not quite. We have some tips to get closer to that seemingly elusive small business owner work-life balance.
Put the right systems and resources in place
When it comes to achieving better balance, that relentless buzzing and dinging in your pocket makes it seem like technology is working against you, but that’s not the case. Implementing the right tools can help you and your entire team get more done in way less time (and sign off when you’re done!).
For example, CallRail’s Lead Center — a business phone with smart features that make calling, texting, and chatting easier — will streamline conversations with your customers and prospects. That means you can take some well-deserved personal time without worrying that you’re missing out on opportunities.
Perhaps you took the afternoon off when a prospect you had been talking to reaches back out to close the deal. There’s no need for you to jump back into “work mode” to handle it. With Lead Center, the call will be automatically routed to one of your team members who’s available to help right then and there. They’ll have access to all of your previous interactions so they can get the full context they need to wrap things up—without needing to bug you.
“A customer calling in the third, fourth, fifth time... we don’t skip a beat,” says Chris Berg, Owner of Screen Medic. “We’re able to pick up and go.”
Spending a lot of your time responding to similar messages over and over again? With Lead Center’s Quick Texts, you can set up canned responses to text messages so that you can quickly and easily respond to a lead. That’s more time you can dedicate to other items on your to-do list (or, you know, some hard-earned rest and relaxation).
Proactively avoid conflict and rework
Tell us if this sounds familiar: A potential customer has called your business several times before. Now, they’re calling back with another question about the same topic.
It should be a quick and painless conversation. Instead? Your team needs to rehash the situation, figure out what the customer was previously told, and track down information. Over 70% of customers have reported feeling frustrated after having to repeat themselves to multiple customer service agents.
D.R. Horton experienced this firsthand when they realized they were frequently double-communicating with leads. “There would be a lot of frustrated customers being asked the same question and contacted numerous times,” explains TJ Meaney, D.R. Horton’s Online Sales Counselor.
When both attracting customers and retaining customers are some of the biggest concerns for small business owners, you can’t afford confusion and these types of bottlenecks.
Lead Center centralizes all of your customer interactions. Plus, you always know how they got to your business. You can use that deeper context to convert them to paying customers—often far faster than you would if you were operating without that visibility.
The result? Happier customers and a far more productive and collaborative team. In fact, D.R. Horton saw a boost to both team performance and revenue.
Take back your personal time
It happens to even the most well-intended small business owners. They’re set to take a much-needed day off when their phone rings. They have no way of knowing whether the call is personal or professional, so they answer — and before they know it, an unexpected work situation consumes their personal time.
“When I started, all calls were forwarded to my cell phone,” shares Kyle Pullin with Toronto Tees. “I had to pick up the phone and say ‘Toronto Tees!’ even when it was maybe my aunt or cousin calling to wish me a Merry Christmas.”
Let’s face it: It’s hard to balance work and life if you don’t have any sort of clear separation between them to start. With Lead Center, you’re able to separate your business-related communications from personal ones.
That’s important, especially when 40% of small business owners say knowing whether an incoming call is for business or personal reasons would be helpful in managing their productivity and stress.
With the ability to route calls based on need or send automatic text responses when calls are missed, you also provide a better customer experience and avoid letting opportunities slip through the cracks. Toronto Tees rescued 15-20% of their lost leads. And, less time spent chasing leads is more time spent resting and recharging.
Prioritize flexibility for yourself and your team
For some industries — from real estate to home services — employees have always needed to be able to handle work on the go. But now? Remote work is no passing fad, with 76% of employees saying they prefer to work from home.
Regardless of your location, you and your team members should have access to all of the information and tools you need to work from wherever suits you best — without needing to remember to bring your legal pad full of scribbles — thanks to the Lead Center mobile app.
Want to get a few tasks crossed off while you’re in the waiting room at your kid’s pediatrician? You can do so with Lead Center. It’s yet another way that you can make work an integrated slice of your life, rather than the centerpiece of it.
Learn to share the load
When you’ve invested so much of yourself into your business, it can be tough to relinquish some control and lean on your team for help. Yet, as a small business owner, work-life balance will continue to feel out of reach if you think you need to do everything yourself.
It’s time to loosen the reins and let your employees chip in. You’ll have more confidence doing so if you ensure you have transparency from the start.
Lead Center lets your team stay connected by providing detailed context on each and every customer conversation. Important notes don’t live in personal notebooks, which means anybody can step in when needed. With notes and tags, it’s easy for people to pick up the slack for you—and for you to return the favor.
It’s never been easier for your employees to jump in and handle things for you, which means you can sign off without worrying about the tower of responsibilities you’re leaving behind.
Work-life balance takes work
Wondering how small businesses can promote a healthy work-life balance? It doesn’t just happen. As strange as it sounds, it requires work.
That starts with you as the business owner. Employees will naturally follow your lead, so it’s important to model healthy work-life balance habits.
But, that’s hard to do if you feel like your business needs to suffer in order for you to take the time off you’ve more than earned.
That’s where Lead Center comes in. You can have the confidence that your business will keep moving forward—even if you aren’t constantly there steering the ship.
Ready to close more leads without having to invest way more hours? Start your free trial of Lead Center today.
