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3 Tech Tips To Help Entrepreneurs Improve Work-Life Balance

CenturyLink

When you’re running a small business, taking time off can feel impossible. A 2015 survey by Sage North America found that small business owners are working long hours and giving up vacations, with 37 percent taking fewer than five days of vacation.

“Small business owners are absolutely overworked,” said Melinda Emerson, a small business expert known as SmallBizLady and the author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months.

One of the main downsides of being the boss in a small business is trying to do everything yourself. “I was the worst workaholic you ever met in your life,” said Emerson, recalling a time in 2005 when she owned a small video production business. “I used to leave church on Sunday and go to the office and work for four or five more hours before I came home.”

But later that year, Emerson had a high-risk pregnancy that resulted in six months of bed rest. Instead of taking a step back from the business, Emerson tried to run it remotely without the kind of cloud-based apps that many workers take for granted today. Her device was a Palm III personal digital assistant.

“It was awful because I was the rainmaker and there wasn’t anyone else to make any rain,” Emerson said.

The hardship motivated her to become an author and business coach, platforms she uses to share the lessons she learned with other small business owners. “I don’t work weekends anymore,” she said. “I made a conscious decision that I wanted to create a business that could run without me.”

Today, technology is playing a more prominent role in helping small business owners strike a better work-life balance. Here are three ways that entrepreneurs can use digital tools to run their businesses more efficiently and free up more time for themselves.

1. Make Your Website A Cash Register

A great website can work around the clock—so you don’t have to—by communicating with customers and generating sales leads, Emerson said.

Emerson’s favorite website management tool is LeadPages, which enables small business owners to create great landing pages without any technology expertise.

Just as important as creating great content is driving traffic through social media. To use time efficiently, Emerson recommends scheduling social media in advance with tools like Sprout Social that generate analytics on reach and your followers.

Put your website to work for you by making sure there are at least three ways to capture visitors’ contact information to generate sales leads. You can also use email marketing programs to automate messages to customers, such as ConstantContact and AWeber, Emerson added.

2. Don’t Be Afraid To Hire

Business owners are vulnerable to the fallacy that no one else can perform a task as well as they can.

“In fact, somebody can do it better than you, and they can do it at half the price,” Emerson said.

If there are business tasks that aren’t in your area of expertise, don’t be afraid to hire help, she added. Spend your time on the tasks that create the most value for your business.

New digital platforms simplify the process of hiring freelance help and remote workers who don’t require the overhead of a bigger office. Options include Upwork (formerly oDesk), and Freelancer.

Give candidates projects to complete before hiring them as a way to evaluate their skills and how they fit in with company culture, Emerson advised. Also be sure to check at least three professional references.

3. Set Boundaries

Although technology enables small business owners to work from anywhere, the convenience can be a double-edged sword.

“There’s a 24/7 workaholic culture that has been enabled by technology, so you have to set your own boundaries,” Emerson said.

One personal tip is to set your own agenda by making a top-five list of priority tasks each day—and try to get them done before 11 a.m. If you start your day with email, you are starting on somebody else’s agenda, she said.

Take advantage of productivity tools that can help you stay on track. Examples include Robin, a personal assistant app for your business, and Zapier, which lets you automate actions based on preset triggers.

“Life is about more than working,” Emerson said. “If you trade a full-time job for business that becomes a noose around your neck, you are going to hate the business you want to love.”