Since You Can't Manipulate Time, Try These 13 Time-Saving Tips

As an entrepreneur you have no limits or restrictions. There is nothing that you can’t achieve. Well, except for freezing time.

Time is the most valuable commodity to an entrepreneur. Most of us would do anything to have another hour in the day. But until someone creates an app to manipulate time, we are forced to manage our time extremely efficiently. Here are 13 tips to help make your days more productive.

1. Schedule “You” time. Set aside a block of time to get your personal stuff out of the way. Things such as paying bills and attending to personal emails can take away from your work.

2. Disconnect when you need 100 percent focus. Preparing for an important meeting or a pitch? Turn off your mobile phone, close your email and route your office calls to voicemail. You will be more productive without the distractions.

3. Maintain a “to-do” list. Keep an accurate list and cross tasks off as you complete them. Create your list at the end of each day for the next day -- this allows you to attack the tasks as soon as your start your day.

4. Don’t be scared of technology. Embrace technology. I’ve seen people at their desk waiting on hold, holding the phone to their ear. Throw a Bluetooth headset into the situation and you can answer emails or attack your to-do list while you wait.

5. Say no. You may hate to disappoint people, but for your own productivity, learn how to say "no" to people. It isn’t always the greatest feeling, but it is impossible to appease everyone. If you said "yes" to everyone and every request you would have no time to do what you need to accomplish.

6. Be ultra responsive. We all have iPhones and smartphones, so use them. If you are out of the office and receive an email that you can easily address on the spot, do so! The other day I received this email:

"I’ll email you when I get back to the office. 
Sent from my iPhone"

The response didn’t require this person to be in the office. It was a simple "yes" or "no" response that would have taken less time to type out than the response they sent. If you can reply while out of the office it eliminates wasted time when you get back.

7. Eliminate negative energy. Nothing can drain your energy or ruin your day faster than individuals with negative energy. Dating someone who is negative about everything? Have a friend that dumps his or her sob story on you daily? Cut ties. Don’t let negative individuals take time out of your day.

8. Don’t put off the non-glamorous tasks. When your “to-do” list has some unattractive tasks, they will consume your thoughts until they are completed. Knock them out first so you can have a clear head to plow through the rest of your tasks.

9. Address problems or issues immediately. In that same vein, waiting to fix a problem can be the difference between a 15-minute quick solution and a complete mess that takes you days to clean up. 

10. Get physical. Get 30-minutes of physical activity in every morning before you start your day. You will have more energy throughout the day and you won't feel sluggish. Feeling tired or lazy sucks up valuable time. When I hit the gym each morning it gives me the energy to focus on my brand the entire day.

11. Delegate. If you have a team or staff at your disposal, utilize them. Many entrepreneurs are so stubborn and think they can do it all. Delegating appropriate tasks will free up your time.

12. Write everything down. Use the "notes" app on your smartphone or use a traditional notepad and pen -- and make sure it is always next to you. Have you ever sat down and tried to remember something from earlier as the clock ticks away? Precious time wasted!

13. Keep a schedule. If you have tasks that require your attention each week, stick to a schedule. Things such as accounting, payroll and reporting can typically be done at the same time each week. Rather than scrambling to find time to get it done, establish a designated time and stick to it.

10 Pointers Every Young Entrepreneur Needs to Know

A young entrepreneur might run across a lot of articles offering advice for the new business owner. But how many articles are actually geared toward the young entrepreneur?

As a former young entrepreneur myself (now I'm 30), I’ve decided to share my insights from my past experiences -- all the types of things that I wish someone had passed on to me when I was first starting out.

1. Do what you love.

When I graduated from college I worked at a job that I didn’t like because it paid me well. I hated to go into work each day. I admit that entrepreneurs typically make the worst employees because they want to be out there growing their own enterprise. Figure out what you love and then become the best that there is at it.

Your passion for your product or service will keep you motivated and get you through the tough times. Yes, there will be challenging moments. But when you work on something that you actually care about (as opposed to just trying to make a quick buck), you'll probably be happy, have direction and fight as hard as you can to make this crazy idea of yours become a reality. 

2. Stay focused.

It’s awfully tempting to jump from project to project, especially when it seems as if a million opportunities are flying by. But don't become distracted from the big picture. Instead of working on multiple projects, stay on track and complete the task at hand. If you’re working on multiple projects, you can spread yourself too thin, which will have an effect on your performance, productivity and resources. Perfect that one thing instead of working on five so-so projects.

3. Exploit online resources.

The Internet is a gold mine of resources. For example, visit the site of the U.S. Small Business Administration for advice about writing business plans, legal considerations, loans and even local resources to help you get that startup off the ground. Other awesome online resources are the websites of SCORE, America’s Small Business Development Center, Bplans, VentureBeat and, of course, Entrepreneur.com.

4. Find a mentor.

Whether you turn to a local entrepreneur, a business leader or a weathered vet that you meet through LinkedIn, having a mentor is one of the best resources you can have. Not only might a mentor have experience (such as dealing with venture capitalists), he or she also could possess an extensive network and help you connect with the right people to make your startup a success.

Don’t be afraid to cold call or email a big name in the industry. Many of these big names like to help younger entrepreneurs as a way of giving back. I met my mentor when I was 12. He was the owner of a large carpet store. I was his paper boy. I delivered his paper in the perfect location every day for three months till one day I saw him. I asked him straight up, Will you be my mentor? He said yes. He’s still a mentor to me today along with many other people.

5. Take care of yourself. 

I was a young go-getter once. (At age 12 I started my first candy stand and had three at one point.) I know exactly how it is: You think that you're invincible. Here’s the breaking news: You’re not.

As an entrepreneur, you might find it easy to push aside healthy lifestyle essentials, such as getting exercise, eating a balanced diet and securing enough sleep. But what good will you be if you’re tired or your immune system if weak? Plus, exercise is a great way to relieve some stress.

Don’t forget to make time for yourself. You need to take a break from work or you might burn yourself out. I personally love to listen to books and have since I was a kid. I’m not very good at reading as I have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder so I listen to books. Find what works for you!

6. Define your market.

Failing to define the market is a common mistake of a lot of young entrepreneurs. Always remember to consider if your business plan makes sense for your market. If you're dreaming up a late-pizza delivery service, do you start it in a business district or a college town? There are a number of ways for you to try to define your market, such as by demographics or psychological factors.  

I always hear people in the fashion industry tell me that their world is a $1.2 trillion market. Technically they may be correct. But if your product is hipster pants, the market isn’t $1.2 trillion. How many hipsters are there in the world? How many of them would purchase your product on a yearly basis? 

7. Be able to explain your business at a whim.

You never know when you’ll have to explain your business. You could run into an investor in an elevator or end up making a sales pitch to a customer while out to eat. Always be ready to clearly and quickly state your mission, service and product or goals.

This is something I learned from Derek Anderson, the founder of Startup Grind, which hosts events for entrepreneurs. He took me to lunch about three years ago and asked me what I did and the business I was promoting. I really didn’t know how to answer. Since then I have refined my pitch so that when someone asks me what I do, I can tell them in five words or less. Practice your 5-second, 15-second and 1-minute pitch over and over. This will help you be able to explain your business to anyone out there in any situation.

8. Remember, you run a startup. 

Just because you secured some funding that doesn’t give you the right to act like you’re a rock star. A luxury home, an office with an actual shark tank or a really fast car are all just a big waste of money, especially in the beginning. Remember, you run a little-known startup (and you're not Richard Branson overseeing a large successful company). Be careful about managing your cash flow and make sure that you keep track of expenses. That's not being cheap. It’s being wise. You don’t want to burn through all your cash too early.

9. There are still rules.  

A major perk that comes with being an entrepreneur is that you’re the boss. You can make your own hours and develop your vision of a company. In short, you’re doing whatever you want. And it’s awesome. But there are some rules that all entrpereneurs have to follow like registering your business and paying taxes. These are just some of the not-so-much fun things you have to handle. If not, you’re going to be in just a little bit of trouble.

10. Know when to fold 'em.

Sure, I’ve had success running and selling several different companies, but do you know how many I’ve started and stopped because they weren’t taking off?  Tons. Some say 9 out of every 10 business fail within the first couple years. 

Don’t let your pride get in the way of closing your company. I learned this the hard way in college when I launched what became my first failure, Utefan. I knew that what I was doing wasn’t going to work or make money. I kept putting money into it and spending time on it. Eventually I had to give up my pride and stop. Know when to let go.

If you’re not familiar with the classic Kenny Rogers song “The Gambler,”then stop what you’re doing and check it out. It offers some of the best advice ever. Why? Just like any great gambler, you have to know when to fold 'em. Instead of continuing to work on a fledgling business, it’s best to walk away and reflect on what went wrong. It’s not going to be easy. But it’s inevitable. And you’ll take that lesson with on your next venture. 

Do You Still Need a Marketing Plan? Yes, But Constant Updating Is Key.

Today’s marketers face a different challenge than did their predecessors of just a decade ago. The constant rise and fall of new online networks of people and platforms, from MySpace to WhatsApp, has changed the way companies find, connect with and acquire new customers.

Real-time marketing has involved companies demonstrating quick response to public events (think Oreo’s tweet about last year's Super Bowl power outage). Today, effective digital marketing is typified by use of rapid A/B testing, iterating and optimizing on ideas and campaigns and aggressively scaling the tested strategies that prove most promising. This more scientific approach has been formulated by forward-thinking online marketers under the pressure of managing constant change.

In today's fast-paced world the old marketing plan is antiquated. While planning is still important, it needs to evolve into a more iterative and nimble process.

Agile contemporary marketers know there’s a good chance that conditions will be different next month. Unlike marketers a decade ago, they have better visibility about which programs succeed and which fail. Successful campaigns can be doubled down on, shifting resources from poor performers to maximize growth. This newfound dexterity is the key to their success.

Since marketers have adapted, why haven’t most marketing budgets and plans?

In a world of constant adjustment and real-time performance feedback, long-term plans and fixed budgets are becoming increasingly unrealistic. It’s enough to make someone wonder whether marketing plans are even relevant anymore. Yet implementing a marketing program without any sort of plan or strategy seems not only unwise but flat out reckless.

So what does an agile marketing plan of today look like? I asked this very questions of the community at the site I started, Growthhackers.com, where marketers share ideas and best practices, and participants in the conversation had a lot of interesting insights, which I've synthesized below:

1. The stage and size of the company matters.

Startups and Fortune 500 firms have very different priorities and challenges. By definition their planning needs are different. For startups, being noticed and acquiring new users trumps devoting hours to developing a long-term vision. Large brands have a different challenge: Finding initiatives that will create meaningful growth is key, and these big bets require more planning to protect the company from big losses. The first step in creating a more nimble planning process is to right size it for the company's stage. There is no one-size-fits-all marketing plan.

2. Agile companies need agile plans.

For startups and perhaps all companies, the 50-page Powerpoint marketing presentation is a relic. Shorter feedback loops necessitate shorter-term, more focused planning. Companies that try to create year-long plans and budgets lock themselves into a structure that won't allow them to capitalize on rapidly emerging opportunities or cut campaigns that are clearly losing money.

Big companies can miss out without flexibility built into their planning and execution.

Rather than formulating one- or two-year plans, many companies now choose to create three- or six-month road maps that are designed to target the next business milestone as quickly as possible. In one such short-term plan, the goal might be to focus on validating a new market segment or completing a series of tests for ways to better attract and convert more consumers into buyers.

Once those growth hypotheses are proved (or disproved) over the course of a few months, the next stage of a plan might focus on expanding deeper into the market, testing ways to acquire customers in an adjunct segment or retention strategies to handle new customers.

3. Design a plan that's cohesive, with adequate vision.

During a time of constant change, keeping everyone in an organization on the same page is a challenge. Moving fast can throw even the closest knit of groups out of sync -- particularly when staffers work across a large organization. Even as the day-to-day operational reins are loosened so teams can capitalize on short-lived opportunities, everyone must row in the same direction.

Yet the plan still needs to keep everyone aligned with a vision for the company: What the company is -- its branding, positioning, target markets, competitor analysis and product information -- must be clear. Set the growth goals, major initiatives for achieving them, which key performance indicators will be used and the resources required. The plan should also express the company's knowledge about what’s worked and why.

4. Be open to change and iteration.

Marketing plans should be created in a format so staffers can provide feedback and learning based on a campaign's performance and suggest new opportunities for driving growth. Rather than a Powerpoint etched in stone, agile plans must be living documents that are constantly referenced and updated. With team members contributing real-time data, this document can serve not just as a plan but a nerve center for the marketing organization to keep tabs on what’s working.

A plan that's continually updated, packed with relevant test and program results, is not only more relevant. It's also more effective for driving growth, keeping staffers aligned and ensuring that opportunities are capitalized upon. Business owners can then allocate resources not according to annual budgets but on performance, putting more wood behind their most potent arrows and deftly making adjustments when conditions change. Keep planning docs on a company intranet or wiki that can be updated and commented on, or use Google Docs for smaller teams. 

5. Collaborate across departments.

Today’s companies that are growing fastest haven’t done so with traditional marketing campaigns. It’s been the products themselves that generate the growth. While marketers previously weren't involved in product decisions, tighter collaboration is needed across departments. Product, engineering and marketing need to work together to create sustainable growth.

In researching successful companies, Morgan Brown and I repeatedly found that removing barriers between teams is essential for finding new growth opportunities. For the 10 companies we profiled in our book,Startup Growth Engines, agility came through coordination throughout a company, with every department involved in and invested in driving growth. Plans need to account for growth everywhere, not just at the marketing campaign level.

                                                                             

5 Essential Reads for Startup Entrepreneurs

For entrepreneurs to stay afloat in the startup world, they have to be able to learn on the fly. Otherwise, they will just sink.

While I believe the best lessons come from actual experience, founders can also learn a great deal from listening to experienced entrepreneurs, talking to mentors and simply picking up a book.

Here are a handful of reads I’ve found that perfectly encapsulate the woes of scaling a business and provide a great blueprint for helping founders through certain startup phases.

1. The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business by Patrick Lencioni

Businesses usually don’t fail due to a lack of talent but more so because of poor harnessing of the smart people under your roof. That’s the key takeaway from The Advantage, a short read that covers everything you need to know about instilling culture and communicating clearly throughout the organization.

Creating a consistent culture is key to effectively scaling your business. It permeates all aspects and, if done right, guides everything through hiring and firing, enforcing daily productivity and employee engagement and effectively measuring performance.

2. Principles by Ray Dalio

If you’re honest not just with yourself but with your colleagues about your own weaknesses, you can hire the right people to fill the gaps. The counterintuitive argument Dalio makes in Principles -- available as a free pdf download -- is that instilling honesty about failures and shortcoming lays the ground for risk taking. The book was instrumental in helping us realize when we had found my own replacement as COO of NerdWallet. “If you find that you can’t do something well, fire yourself … If you are disappointed because you can’t be the best person to do everything, you are terribly naïve because nobody can do everything well,” Dalio writes.

Dalio is definitely on to something. His hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, is the largest in the world, making him one of the richest men on the planet.

3. In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives by Steven Levy

In the Plex can be read several ways: as a "fanboy" journey into "geek never-never land" or as an inspirational journey of a pair of entrepreneurs who, against the odds, created one of the world’s most admired companies.

As an entrepreneur, I read the book with a great deal of relief. Google went through all the same bumps in the road other startups go through: hiring and management problems and difficulties trying to maintain culture as growth occurs. At every stage of growth, Google’s problems are relatable to any startup.

4. The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz

In his book, the co-founder of venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, literally dissects all the difficult things that come along with owning (and running) a company. For instance, he writes: “The hard thing isn’t hiring great people. The hard thing is when those “great people” develop a sense of entitlement and start demanding unreasonable things. The hard thing isn’t setting up an organizational chart. The hard thing is getting people to communicate within the organization that you just designed." Amen.

5. The Four-Hour Work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss

This book is controversial and some of its tenets are honestly total crap but there are some nuggets of wisdom for working smarter, not harder.

Running a high-growth company, you can’t expect to only work four hours a week, or only check your email once a week. But if you cut out the extreme examples, Ferriss provides excellent tips on how to hack your time to be more productive. He covers how to most effectively outsource time-consuming tasks, how to cut out unnecessary correspondence to best manage an overflowing inbox and how to use the 80/20 rule to hyper-prioritize your efforts.