As small business owners, we have a unique advantage to improve any aspect of our business at any given time. It doesn’t always take a major change to reap big rewards.

It’s harder to make changes in a big company, because you have to coordinate with a lot of people. Even if the company is just a few hundred employees, change can be hard. Larger businesses are like aircraft carriers that take a lot of people, coordination, and time to make a change.

Small businesses are like speed boats. We can change directions at the drop of a hat. Maybe we keep the same goals, but can change the course a little bit. Or we have the freedom to do a full 180. And we have the ability to do any of those quicker than in a large business.

Below are 3 tips for how to make tiny improvements that go a long way in your small business.  Sometimes a tiny improvement is all you need.



1. Review the “Pebbles in Your Shoe”

Think about a time when you had a pebble in your shoe. How irritating was it? Yet you could still walk. But you probably stopped, took your shoe off, and removed the pebble. What a huge relief that was! Something as small as a pebble was irritating enough for you to stop walking and do something about it.

Figure which “pebbles” really bother you and make them as small as possible. I met someone who had built a system for leads: researching/building a list, making calls, and then making notes in the database. He had the system in place, but he didn’t feel comfortable letting someone else take it over. I suggested he start smaller with just the research side. Let someone take over that and as he gets more comfortable, he can pass on another part of the system.

At Freedom Makers, I had an issue with scheduling. I’m personally not very good at it and the back and forth drives me nuts. Yet, a big part of onboarding new clients involves scheduling coordination. We schedule business owners to speak with up to four qualified and interested Freedom Makers. That’s four calls that need to be scheduled. Then, once the client has spoken with and chosen a Freedom Maker, we schedule “Kick Off Training.” All in all, at least five calls need to be scheduled before a client starts with us. Once I recognized I’m not very good at scheduling, I hired an onboarding coordinator. Not only was I relieved, but our clients had a more pleasant experience getting started with us. As a result, clients onboarded faster and revenue grew. Hiring Chambraia impacted our customer service, our revenue, and most importantly, the lasting impressions we make on our clients.

2. Let it Marinate.

There will be times you’ll be ready to let something go, but can’t figure out how.  An example might be email. The problem with email is that everything goes into one place, no matter how important or urgent or whether email is even the appropriate medium. Over time, I slowly moved things that were coming into my inbox and found other places they could be received more effectively. It was not an overnight solution; I had to take time and really think how best to channel these communications in and out.  Perhaps for you it is hiring an assistant to manage your inbox. Check out our 10 Tips to Email Nirvana for tips on how to manage your email effectively. It is not an overnight change, but well worth it in the end.

I got to a point with Freedom Makers where the pebble in my shoe was payroll and invoicing. Not only was I uncomfortable letting it go, but I also couldn’t figure out how to do it efficiently.

I took my time; I let it marinate. I started chipping away at it little by little. First, I had the Freedom Makers submit their hours via a form rather than through email. Later, I started using forms for clients to add more hours. Eventually, I even offered them an option to automate their payments. Most importantly, I focused on how to make it as simple and easy as possible for the Freedom Makers and the clients.

By letting it marinate, you give yourself space and don’t beat yourself up about it. Maybe you’re not ready to solve the pebble. When you let the ideas marinate and give yourself space, the solution will present itself eventually.

3. Share with Others

When you’re marinating on a issue, share with friends and mentors who are also business owners. Surround yourself with other business owners who know what you’re going through. Be open to what they have to say, because it might spark an idea.

I happened to be speaking about my payroll and invoicing issues with a friend. Of course, the idea of automatic payments came up because that’s all the rage these days. But it doesn’t fit our model of freedom. How can we sell packages of hours so that they pay the same amount every month when we tout that clients have the freedom to use us for the hours they need? My friend offered the idea of her utility bill. She pays a flat rate a month that evens out her bill. Out here in the Bay Area, utility bills spike in the winter and drop in the summer. By paying the same flat rate, she’s able to smooth out her payments throughout the year to avoid the spikes and drops. She suggested I could offer the same to clients based on their past usage. The idea really resonated. It offered a way to simplify invoicing but still stayed within our guiding principle of freedom. I created it and began offering it to clients within a week (like a speed boat!).

As a small business owner, you constantly deal with competing priorities and resources--including energy!  Small changes can go a long way. These “pebbles” may not take a lot of time or be that difficult, but they do cost you a lot of energy.  Once you address and release them, the next one will present itself and then the next and so on. But you only need to address one at a time, improving your business and your happiness altogether. Some of these changes will have an immediate or huge impact while others will have an impact over time.

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​Can you believe it's that last week of March, already? The first quarter is coming to an end. Now that New Years has come and gone, your resolutions have likely gone away also. With the second quarter coming soon, take some time to refocus on what you want to accomplish. Here are some tips to help you make resolutions you’ll keep:


1. Plan for two quarters at a time.
Small businesses are like speed boats. Big businesses are like aircraft carriers. As small businesses, we are more nimble and can react faster. We are also affected more  by outside factors. Passengers on a large ship may not even notice a big wave that could capsize a small boat. Thus, it’s pretty futile to plan beyond two quarters for small businesses so you don’t waste your time. The bright side? You can make a lot of progress in just two quarters. Be sure to celebrate all that you accomplish during those six months.


2. Figure out if you’re an “ideas person” or an “executor”.
Some people are visionaries...always coming up with new ideas, but maybe they’re not so good about executing them. Others seem to make things happen, but struggle with ideas to take their business to the next level. Take some time to figure out which way you lean. Neither one is better than the other. Knowing your preferred approach will define how you grow your business.


3. Constantly evaluate how to make your tasks take less energy.
Whenever you are working on a repeating task, especially one you don’t enjoy doing, ask yourself, “how can I complete this task with less work?” It might be through creating a form to collect information. It might be through using a Zap to automatically launch the next step. It might even be that you just stop doing it (just how important is that task anyway?). By frequently asking yourself how to accomplish the same task with less work, you’ll get creative with your solutions.


4. Delegate for what you are not.
If you are an “executor,” hire a business coach, business consultant, or strategy consultant. Find one who can help you identify the right ideas to execute. If you are an “ideas person,” hire a virtual assistant. You must find one who is an executor. Another ideas person won’t help you to execute! For either of these, it might take some trial and error, but keep defining the right fit and you’ll eventually find the best one for you.


5. Keep track of ideas for later projects.
As a small business owner, you wear a lot of hats. You also have multiple issues or ideas you want to address and implement. Balancing time and priorities can get tough. Put your ideas down on paper (or in your computer). Group them into phases with milestones. When you have a new idea, you can add it to the appropriate phase and remind yourself, “we’ll get to that when we get to that phase.”


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Last month, I had the opportunity to be featured on Motivational Millennial, a podcast focused on assisting millennials in discovering and growing their skills and abilities, and empowering them with the mindset and behaviors they need to be successful. In my  episode, I discussed the importance of freedom on both a personal and professional level, and why it's also important to live by your own set of rules. Brunch is a perfect example of this. You'll have to listen in to find out why.

If you're a Freedom Makers follower, then you know why freedom is the driving principle in my business. During this podcast, I explain the freedom aspect of Freedom Makers, why I chose this path instead of the other business ideas I had, and how I've changed and grown (a continuing process) since starting Freedom Makers. 

Small business owners have a tendency to self-sabotage, myself included. But I found ways to overcome that behavior, and you can, too. Listen in as I share how I defeated the self-sabotage monster, along with my advice millennials for success and fulfillment. And, finally, I talked about why it's becoming more acceptable to have kids present in the workplace. What? Yes, it's okay to have children around when you are working with other people. Trust me.

To hear to full podcast, click here.

Be sure to follow us on LInkedIn and like us on Facebook. 

At the end of every year, many business owners start thinking about what they want to work on in their business for the upcoming year. In this video, I talk about how making small changes can lead to big improvements.

Corporations, even businesses with just a few hundred employees, are like aircraft carriers. To make a change in course requires planning and collaboration. Small businesses, on the other hand, are like speed boats -- we can make a change at the drop of a hat. But where to start?

1. Focus on a thorn in your side (i.e. scheduling, research, follow-ups, newsletters, etc). Start with the smallest one. Take steps to eliminate that thorn (delegating, changing up the way you do it, etc.). As you do, other thorns will present themselves, but you'll have the space to address them as they come because you've gotten rid of other thorns already!

2. If a thorn seems to big (e.g. email), either narrow it down (e.g. one type of email) or let it marinate for a bit. Give it space, focus on others thorns, and don't stress over it. As you create more space, a solution (or solutions) will present itself (themselves).

​3. Share your thorn with others. Eventually, an out-of-the-box (or something that seems so obvious, you can't believe you didn't think of it sooner) solution will arrive. Since you're a small business owner (driver of a speed boat), you'll be able to implement that change (eliminate the thorn) right away and move on to the next thorn! 

Bonus: for tips on better ways to handle email, download: 10 Actionable Tips to Attain "Email Nirvana"

Business coach and consultant, Susan Tollefson, specializes in time management, goal setting, and strategic planning. Her business, Inside Out Business Systems, provides services to small business owners and independent professionals who run service businesses such as realtors, photographers, life coaches, etc. 

​In her latest blog, 3 Ways to Improve Productivity and Increase Your Bottom Line, Susan says that effectively managing your time and ensuring you have adequate systems in your business are a must, otherwise, you are wasting time. 


​"If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be the greatest prodigality."      
--Benjamin Franklin