Automated Communications

Make SMS your secret weapon in customer service!

The whole purpose of Information Technology and the Internet is to free people from boring or repetitive tasks and to allow computers to solve challenging calculations or process large amounts of data in order to enable timely decision making. Time thus becomes an important variable in today´s cloud-based software systems: do more with less resources and to reduce processing time is the often elusive goal in most web enabled businesses.

Beyond mere speed, customers expect good service and react positively when a provider walks the extra mile, offers bonuses or allows customization. Appointment scheduling platforms give small business or clinics a powerful set of tools and features to establish continued, relevant and even fun communications with their clients. OpusTime, for example, provides clients / patients with a dedicated Short Message Service (SMS) number for them to contact the business directly (in selected countries). The business is always notified of incoming text messages, enabling an SMS text conversation. What if you could harness the simplicity and power of SMS and establish logic for automated messages? Here is a list of ten automated communication features that your clients will love:

Manage your business from anywhere and free up time for what really matters with OpusTime. Sign up for a 30-day free trial and experience symphony at work!

OpusTime Update

New Smart Booking feature!

Smart Booking and more: we are proud to bring you an important update, on time to close this amazing year 2019. We listened to your suggestions and here it is!

1. New smart booking

A new button available from most screen will let you quickly book appointments while optimizing your schedule.

the date picker shows available dates based on individual professionals.

All available time slots are then displayed. Those time slots optimize your schedule to avoid gaps.

We also added those available time slots to regular booking.

2. New print invoice mechanics

The print invoice will now open a fast HTML version of the invoice followed by the printer dialog box.

you can still download and print a pdf version by using the DOWNLOAD BUTTON.

A new redesign of the appointment communication settings make it easier to configure reminders and confirmations.

We added a new button to add new communications.

Quickly add automated communications for birthdays, past due invoices and missed appointments.

Once you picked which new communications you want to automate, you can personalize the emails and SMS messages sent out automatically for you.

5 Time Management Tips for Business Owners 

Develop these skills and ease your path to success

When you’re a business owner, how you manage your time is critical for different reasons. First, you are contributing value to your company and helping generate revenue in your activities. You’re directly impacting your businesses’ profitability.

At the same time, you’re also setting an example for the people around you. You’re dictating your company culture in many ways by your own actions, including the ways you manage your time.

Your goal as a business owner should be focusing on the tasks that are most important within your business, and in order to do that, you have to strategize when it comes to time management. Consider the following tips for time management if you’re juggling a business.

1. Create a Prioritized List

You can’t do everything in a day, week, or even a month. What you can do is set up prioritized to-do lists. You can make a daily prioritized to-do list and also think a little farther out to the coming weeks. Start with the highest-value activities first, the ones that are most-time sensitive, and the ones that require the most focus on your part.

If you have to deal with an unexpected situation, you know you can take on your most high-priority tasks and maybe leave the others for later. You’re giving yourself some flexibility when you prioritize what needs to be done.

2. Log Your Time

There are a lot of different methods you can utilize to manage your time more effectively, but the foundation of many of these is having a clear understanding of where you’re spending the most time and where you can make changes. Spend several weeks where you log the time you’re spending on different tasks throughout your day.

Cut out the unnecessary ones, and set time limits for yourself on others. For example, you could use the Pomodoro time management technique. With this, you spend 25 minutes focus solely on one task. You then take a five-minute break and move to the next.

3. Stop Multitasking

As a business owner and entrepreneur, you may feel like your day is filled with multitasking. You may think it’s the best way to get a lot done, but in reality, your performance is likely suffering.

If you are multitasking, you’re more likely to be sloppy in your work or make mistakes that need to be fixed later, which ultimately means you’re wasting time. Stop multitasking and instead focus on small, manageable tasks. Get one task done before you do the next.

4. Outsource Unnecessary Tasks

It’s natural when you own a business to want to hang on to control in most areas, but you have to learn to delegate. Start with the tasks that you spend time on each day but that you don’t have to be the one doing. For example, maybe you outsource bookkeeping or social media management. Perhaps you hire a virtual assistant to go through your emails and help you prioritize how to respond to those if you don’t have an onsite employee who can do the work.

5. Business Owner: Use Technology

Finally, there is a wealth of software at your disposal that can help you manage your own time, and also communicate and delegate more efficiently. Take advantage of it, as well as automation whenever possible.

For example, if you start using task management software, you may be more inclined to delegate because you can see what’s going on, who’s doing what, and how everyone is progressing on tasks and projects. If you tend to be overloaded with appointments, then utilize Opustime, an online appointment and client management software. Using the technology available to you will help tremendously.

Business owners can feel like they’re pulled in many directions, and they often are. However, just as you have a plan for your business, create a strategy and plan for your time and how you spend it every day.

About the Author:

Marla DiCarlo is an accomplished business consultant with more than 28 years of professional accounting experience. As co-owner and CEO of Raincatcher, she helps business owners learn how to sell a business so they can get paid the maximum value for their company.

Manage your business from anywhere and free up time for what really matters with OpusTime. Sign up for a 30-day free trial and experience symphony at work!

Putting bubbles -back- in the Champagne! 

An interview with the brain and the soul behind OpusTime

This past spring we managed to interview Dr. Poulin as he drove between his clinics in Québec, Canada. The conversation covered business, hobbies, education and, of course, technology. Make sure you pay attention because no stone was left unturned.

Who is François Poulin?

I´m a chiropractor and I´ve been practicing for over 25 years. I love having contact with people and I like to develop my skills. But there is something I share with all health care providers, and it is why the administration is embedded so much in the business. When I turned 40, I remember having a 9-month waiting list of patients, everybody wanted a piece of me. Hiring employees, accounting, sales, and marketing, doing so many things that made me exhausted. I promised myself I would never get caught in the same situation again. So I closed the clinic and moved 3 hours away, with a small clinic in my basement. If I was going back into practice again, it would have to be fun. Then I had this epiphany about an orchestra, I started incubating the idea first, then I turned it into a very detailed document during the course of 4 years. It turns out in the end, today, that I only show up to my practice and everything else is taken care of by the system. I´m completely free, I´ve eliminated all the overhead that haunted me before, which led me to reduce the space. So I have now a very minimalistic approach, with less staff, due to OpusTime.

What is your typical day like?

I get up, I make coffee, sometimes I even bake bread, which I started doing when patients asked me for tips on nutrition, because they were lactose intolerant, for example. Now I get into the car exactly at the moment that allows me to arrive at the same time as my first patient. So I now have time to develop OpusTime, see patients, have coffee and check my social media profiles. With my new clinic everything works better. At the end of the day, when I´m done and my last patient leaves the clinic, I slip my laptop into my backpack, turn off the lights and drive home.

How long have you been living in Montreal?

I was in a very small farm town with no more than 10,000 souls. Every chiropractor that came to visit was telling me the same story: that I would starve to death that no one would come to the clinic because there was nothing there. Well, 5 years later, I had a 9-month waiting list and patients were driving 1.5 hours to see me. But I left that and moved closer to Montreal.

Where did you attend college?

I did my doctoral degree in Davenport, Iowa.

Did you have a mentor during your college studies/early years in the profession?

Yes, I was a good friend of Dr. Roy Swed. I organized many seminars for him and I built his first website. I remember carrying around his enormous suitcase projector with cellophane slides that you could write on with a market. I remember my friends were starting to use laptops and video projectors. I was using Windows 3.1 back then, and I kept telling him it wasn´t necessary to walk around with such heavy equipment. A very intelligent man, but so resistant to new technology. Sometimes I had to pick him up and you kind of needed a small truck to move his equipment around. He always insisted on putting ads in the newspaper.

So when I opened my first clinic in this small town, I immediately built a website and all of a sudden I had patients flying in from Norway. Since it was one of the first websites for a chiropractor, I had thousands of patients find us over the Internet, contacting us and coming over from as far as Mexico and Europe. I made the front page of newspapers. All the web search engines of the day had us listed: Webcrawler, Altavista, Excite and Yahoo. The local newspaper covered us on the front page; the fact that patients were coming in from Norway.

You learn to sail. It´s similar to being a boat builder. You invest a lot of time in it, and once you finish, and next thing you know, you put it in the water and have no idea where to go with it. Now I basically only need to know how to paddle with a canoe or a small sailboat. What I love most is the one on one experience with my patients, something I can now do freely. I have literally no overhead. Like now I serve at 3 locations, but I don´t pay 3 full leases. In one location I simply rent for 2 days a week, a very small space, but enough to receive patients and give treatments, and I even make more profit.

What motivated you to become a chiropractor?

I come from a long line of healers that traces back to my great-great-grandfather. My grandfather was a legend, for example, he had a God-given gift (as well as my mother). He lived in Denim. My grandfather passed away when I was 20 years old and I didn´t know what to do with my life, and then I saw that over 4,000 people attended his funeral. I saw the sincerity of the people there, so I decided to write a note and left it in the inside pocket of my grandfather´s jacket. It read: “Grandpa, you deserve to rest because you have done so much work, but if you could just give me some advice, I´d appreciate it”. During the funeral, I met a girl and started to date her. One day I left her at her apartment, which was right behind the Order of Chiropractors. So I saw the sign and decided to go in and asked: “What do I have to do to become a Chiropractor?” They gave me a thorough explanation, I fell in love with the profession, studied, and here I am! It´s important to have passion in the things you do, passion to help patients. My brain sometimes works like an autistic brain. Sometimes I dream of features and functionalities to help doctors and patients.

What are the hardest challenges related to this work?

I think the hardest thing is to be conscious of what we do, but also to be aware of what we don´t do or what we could do better. It´s hard to be a doctor. It´s hard for people to follow a path of taking care of themselves. People are more afraid of public speaking than of death. Some even have nightmares of standing in front of a crowd, and even tell their psychiatrists that they fear waking up naked at work. Moreover, 90% of diets are a failure. It´s hard to care so much for people and being rejected. It´s the same reason why so many gym memberships are not used. After so many years of trying, I know best not to invest in gym memberships because of that.

What are your biggest achievements?

Without a doubt, it has been to provide care to people, which comes from having learned to question everything, including my education. I was able to strip away everything that was ideological. Instead of being the all-knowing guy, the expert in the room, I started a process of self-consciousness and self-critique that led me to provide excellent care for my patients. Today I have around 700 referrals and people drive long distances to receive help from me, considering that I do CERO marketing. So the number one thing for me is the care and number two is OpusTime. It has allowed me to keep lobbying to improve care.

What were the biggest obstacles you had to overcome?

Yeah…Youth! When I finished university, I was so timid and stupid, OMG. Like my first software was not OpusTime, I had another, and I broke all my front teeth with it because I was not at all aware of the market needs…

Where would you see yourself if you weren’t a chiropractor?

I did one year of administration and took one year of biology. What makes my life meaningful is to help others, so I guess if I couldn’t practice any longer, I would look for a way to help people.

There´s usually a story behind each name and Opus evokes classical music. Are you a fan?

No. Not really. When I was working on the concept I met with a marketing specialist, and I kept trying to explain it, and then suddenly I said it was like being the director of an orchestra, where we are harmonizing all these different instruments. So that we can blend them into a good experience. Usually what we have in businesses is more like a Cacophony, you know? As a practitioner, I have to listen to the patients. If a patient tells me “but I´m still hurting”, I can´t ignore that. This is why I use the analogy of an orchestra, musicians need to practice. The conductor is not contributing to the show but makes sure the musicians give their best.

Do you believe technology can bring doctors closer to patients?

It seems a reasonable bet, but I live that every day. My patients and I have a relationship because we have removed the administrative overhead that causes noise. Everything in between is solved by OpusTime. For example, I rarely get any phone calls. I don´t need a headset. I simply meet in person with my patients.

Is there anything uniquely Canadian about OpusTime?

I often think I´m the alien in the room (laughs), and I don´t mean that in a bad way. Often software platforms start out as depositories of the knowledge that exists in a particular field or region, but I think the other way around. Take for instance my practice. I don´t charge the average fee that chiropractors in the area charge; I charge $20 more per visit. Because patients that are shopping around for a deal get filtered, they are not coming to see me, those probably don´t fit the profile that I´m targeting. When making decisions around OpusTime, I always think twice. I wouldn´t want to be stuck with every decision that I make. I designed it from the ground up as a multilingual system, starting with French, Spanish and English. My previous software failed miserably because it reflected the way I worked in those days. OpusTime has a different logic behind it because professionals in any field can use it to manage their businesses: hair salons, tattoo parlors, clinics, consultants, really anyone who builds an appointment.

Can you name bad habits that prevent SMBs to better serve their customers?

Let´s take for instance a massage therapist who has a group of clients and gives A+ service but she doesn´t follow up on customers. I would tell her that health care providers deserve the highest pay, because it´s not a Spa, not luxury, a good massage can change a person´s life, there is nothing better for your health than a massage, especially if as a therapist you are breaking your own shoulders and wrists providing the treatment. To her, I´d say: don´t give away your work! Don´t bargain for your fees. She is probably the person that puts the bubbles back in the Champagne! Try to change how massage is perceived. The same applies to hairdressers. They are not cutting hair, they are helping people present themselves in a better way. If you let the world determine the value of your work, then you won´t be able to give the best service to your patients.

How does the future of clinical practice look like, from your perspective?

I think that research is coming out of the data, so an ideal future would involve an increasing and better use of data to improve the way we interact with patients to provide treatments. That and also reducing restrictions imposed by legislation. Professionals are trapped between a rock and a hard place regarding the demands of the market and the restrictive legislation, which is always outdated. We will have access to incredible knowledge to better serve our patients.

What would you advise entrepreneurs to achieve balanced mental and physical health?

There is magic in OpusTime. I mean it. When you are not at work, the platform allows you to organize your business, and always be on top, so you achieve a balance between work and private life. It gives structure to everything around you, as a professional, so you can focus on servicing your customers.

What are your professional interests or hobbies?

Besides baking bread, I like to cook and entertain groups of friends. But it has to be healthy. I like to read about lifestyle, and how health relates to lifestyle. I like nature, traveling, hiking or camping.

Who is your favorite author (fiction and nonfiction)?

I like science fiction, thinking about the future. For example, The Matrix was amazing, in my opinion. I also love Jordan Peterson´s book. It was so powerful. I read a lot of SW and HW reviews on a daily basis.

Where do you go when you want to get away from it all?

I prefer nature than traveling to cities. But I like to go into nature with my mobile phone on a full charge!!! So I sometimes watch fishing videos, while I´m fishing.

If you could give advice to a younger version of yourself, what would that be?

Be careful what you wish for.

Before we wrap up this interview, where do you see yourself in the next five years?

In the next five years, I´m probably going to be merging my clinics into one and working full time to get OpusTime to every corner of the Earth.

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Did you like this interview? Share your opinion with us (info@52.21.59.198). Manage your business from anywhere and free up time for what really matters with OpusTime. Sign up for a 30-day free trial and experience symphony at work!

10 time management tips you can´t live without

Techniques for successful time management.

Many people at the start of the day have in their minds everything they should do. However, at the end of the day they realize that they have not finished important tasks and have to postpone them for tomorrow. This is how the days go by and the list never ends. Successful time management is one of the requirements for success.

Since we know that your time is important, and we want you to manage it effectively, here are some tips that must be considered:

1. The schedule is your best ally

Use a schedule to record all the tasks you must do in the day; as you accomplish them, you may cross them out; this makes the brain get used to working in an orderly manner and at the same time motivates you to continue fulfilling the goals until you finish all tasks.

2. Priorities

Address the priorities. When making the list of activities, start with the most important, the task that will take you longer to achieve the proposed objectives.

3. Eliminate distractions

If you need to prepare a meeting, finish a project or make an important presentation, turn off your mobile phone, close the mail and move away any device that may interrupt your concentration. Without distractions you will be more productive and will achieve successful time management.

4. One thing at a time

Many times you start with many tasks and in the end none is 100% complete; on the other hand, if you do one by one, your brain will be more focused.

5. Organization

Keep your workplace clean and orderly. Disorganization sends an image of chaos to the brain and this will generate stress.

6. Visual help

If you are a visual person, you can help yourself by placing visible reminders and noting any ideas you have in mind regarding tasks to be done. With visual aids, your mind will focus on completing the activity so little by little the brain will receive the necessary stimuli and will notice the progress towards successful time management.

7. Take breaks

It is important to relax the mind and stretch the body. Take short breaks between tasks; the muscles will stretch and the mind will clear. When you resume activities you will feel more relaxed.

8. Delegate functions

If you have a work team, delegate certain activities or ask for help. At the end thank them and let them know what progressed with their help.

9. Take advantage of time-outs

While you are in the car you can listen to music or a conference that will help you in your professional performance, or new techniques present in the market. The important thing is to take advantage of every minute and complete the tasks listed in the schedule to achieve successful management of time.

10. Reward yourself

When completing a task, allow yourself to be rewarded; it can be something simple like chatting with colleagues, review social networks, go for a coffee or make that pending call.

We suggest you apply these tips progressively. When you master them completely, your brain will already have the habit and will work better.

Now, get to work! Set your goals and focus your efforts on meeting them. Remember: do not waste your time. The day has the same amount of hours for everyone, use them to your advantage and enjoy the advantages of good time management.

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Manage your business from anywhere and free up time for what really matters with OpusTime. Sign up for a 30-day free trial and experience symphony at work!

7 keys to becoming a successful entrepreneur

Don´t give up, success is right around the corner.

Creating a successful business requires the combination of a good idea, a good business plan and enough money to carry it out. To become an entrepreneur , it is necessary to identify an opportunity where nobody else sees it and manage the resources necessary to make it operational. We´ll talk about the attitude and aptitude of an innovative person who aspires to be his/her own boss and make decisions to create his own company.

Is becoming an entrepreneur viable at this time?

Of course it´s possible! Becoming an entrepreneur has been the project of a growing number of Québécois citizens for the last 10 years. This fact has been revealed by the Quebec Business Index 2018. The index predicts to close the year 2019 with 12% more business than last year. If you wanted to know when to start a business in Quebec, start your company this year.

7 keys to becoming an entrepreneur

1. Your idea should solve a problem in a niche market

A good business idea should solve a problem for someone. It is the first step to become an entrepreneur. Frank Scipion, from La Transformateka and Lifestyle at Cuadrado, says that there are 3 factors that determine the choice of your niche:

• How much value can it provide?
• A good theme that maintains the interest of your audience for years.
• Must have economic potential.

2. Wait for the right moment to make appropriate decisions

Becoming an entrepreneur is not just about having the vision and making an idea operative. This person must be able to sniff the precise moment to launch. You must also sense when to make the right decisions.

3. Define who is your ideal client

Defining the ideal client is one of the keys to becoming an entrepreneur, the services that you believe should be directed to this client. Walt Disney said: “Whatever you do, do it so well that they will return and also bring their friends.”

4. Create a comprehensive business plan

A good business plan should consist basically of an executive summary, a description of the business and the products and services that will be offered. A comprehensive plan must also include a marketing plan. The success of the new business will depend on the execution of this plan.

5. Ensures a reasonable balance between work and life

This is a recommendation of Noémie Dupuy, the executive co-director of Budge, a leading company on the Quebec list in the PROFIT / Chatelaine W100 list. When someone decides to become an entrepreneur, he/she dedicates too many hours of work to the project. Achieving the perfect balance between life and work will make you more productive.

6. Define your role clearly

Dupuy says that anyone who wants to become an entrepreneur must know how to play the most important role in their organization. In addition, she advises that you need to surround yourself with the right people.

7. Having only one mentor

One of the mistakes of those who wish to become entrepreneurs is that they disperse and begin to read different authors and follow different mentors. Frank Scipion recommends having only one mentor. That person to turn to when you have a traffic jam in your project.

Most quoted ventures

You must select projects that guarantee greater profitability with the least amount of resources. These three types of projects are world leaders because they meet this condition:

• Applications development
• Language Academy
• Digital marketing consulting

Finally, most people know that becoming an entrepreneur is not an easy task. But those who start a business with a good plan and with the right keys that help them face the risks wisely end up savoring the sweet honey of success.

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Manage your business from anywhere and free up time for what really matters with OpusTime. Sign up for a 30-day free trial and experience symphony at work!

5 tips to improve the customer service of your business

Customer service tips to make your business more reliable and attractive.

No matter how good your products and services are, the simple truth is that nobody will buy them if they are not wanted or if they are not needed. And you will not convince anyone that you want or need to buy what you’re offering unless you clearly understand how to offer a true customer service experience.

To achieve this, your company must have employees who enjoy working with the public, who are trained to answer questions properly and who understand the value of excellent customer service for your business. To achieve this, your job offer for this position must be clear from the beginning.

The 5 tips that will help you improve customer service

A recent study by J. D. Power Canada reveals the importance of prior service experience in customer retention. The survey states that 86% of the most satisfied customers always say that they would recommend the service offered. For that reason, you need to know what you must do to improve your company’s customer service.

1. Know your customer

The more you know about your customers, the more effective your marketing strategies will be. You must make an effort to discover the answers to these questions:

• Who are they?
• What do they buy?
• Why do they buy it?
• What do they expect from you?
• What do you think of your competitors?

2. Your business philosophy: your client’s satisfaction

Offering an excellent service so that your client is satisfied should be the main objective of your company. Why? The same study by J. D. Power reveals that customer satisfaction brings recommendations: 28% declared that they will definitely return. 25% say they will recommend the services of the company.

3. Provide memorable experiences

Tiffani Bova, vice president of Gartner, says that “the customer experience is the ultimate source of sustainable differentiation and the new competitive battlefield.” According to this statement, any company can offer a good experience. But to achieve differentiation in this time, companies must offer memorable and unforgettable experiences.

An example of a memorable experience is the digital kiosk tables installed by McDonald’s in its restaurants in 2016, in order to reduce customer waiting times. This single change translated into a 4.1% increase in sales.

4. If your client changes, adapt your services to your changes

Paul Greenberg, president of The 56 Group and author of the best seller CRM at the Speed ​​of Light, defined the commitment with the client as “the continuous interactions between the company and the client, offered by the company, chosen by the client”. In other words, your client is the one who decides what to buy, how he wants to buy it, and most importantly, how he wants to be treated. Understand the language of your buyers so you can offer excellent customer service.

5. Avoid the frustration of your customers, increasing the commitment

Huffington Post published an investigation led by Stevan Kolsky, founder and director of Thinkjar. Kolsky emphasizes avoiding the client’s frustration. His research showed that 13% of clients talk to 15 or more people if they are not happy. On the contrary, 72% of consumers will share the good experience in customer service with 6 or more people.

Finally, Kolsky’s research demonstrates that excellent customer service can turn your buyers into ambassadors for your brand. Knowing your clients gives power to your company to know how to treat them. Also, increase your company’s commitment to focus on avoiding frustrations to your client.

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Manage your business from anywhere and free up time for what really matters with OpusTime. Sign up for a 30-day free trial and experience symphony at work!

4 powerful tips to set priorities and succeed in your business

Success starts by setting priorities. Not a trivial subject.

Growing companies often face big challenges. As the company grows, problems and opportunities demand more innovative solutions: what worked a year ago might not make sense today. This makes it very necessary to maintain the focus so that you can succeed in your business.

Faced with these challenges, business owners should look for creative solutions to solve problems on time. But many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of wanting to solve all the problems at the same time. They become prey to exhaustion, become more unproductive and begin to procrastinate. When you get used to this habit, success becomes almost impossible. Even when you implement well-organized methods, you must avoid falling into this situation.

When you are in charge of your own business, you must be aware of all the factors that affect its operation. Right here is where you ask yourself: how can I set my priorities to succeed in the business? Which leads to another question: have other entrepreneurs achieved success?

Why is it important to set priorities?

We live in a time when time runs faster than destiny. With so much entertainment available at all hours, sometimes our day goes by and we do not take time out for the most important things. If you are part of this group, success in business will surely become a Russian roulette for you.

Brad Stulberg, co-author of the book Peak Performance, says that prioritizing is one of the main tricks for maximum performance. By doing this, you improve your mood. In this regard, Stulberg cites in his book the experiment conducted at the Norwestern University, which found that students with a more positive outlook were more likely to solve challenging problems.

4 powerful tips to set your priorities and succeed in your business

You are already convinced that maintaining a positive attitude and a correct approach are two of the main keys to success. But they are not the only ones. It is for this reason that we are going to share 4 tips that will help you succeed in your business.

1. Strengthen your skills and cultivate the right attitude

Online Entrepreneurs magazine notes that “the skills that can help you start a business are not the same as the skills you need to make it grow”. He also advises that “it is vital not to deceive yourself, to value your own abilities too much”. But being successful in business is not just about this.

In the beginning, you need skills like good time management. Later, you should avoid interference from third parties excessively in your decisions. However, this should not lead you to lock yourself up in your own way of doing things.

Understand that as your business grows, you will need to hire extra staff, show them that you trust them and give them participation in presenting new ideas. Do not cultivate the master´s complex: “I solve all the problems”.

2. Start with the correct version of your business idea

Tom Morkes, digital marketing guru, says that most entrepreneurs start with what he calls version 9.0 of his business. This is the beginning of the end of your project. But what is version 9.0 about? Morkes defines it as:

• The perfect manifestation of your vision.
• The ideal version that everyone likes.
• It’s a fabulous and brilliant idea … people would be crazy if they did not accept it!

To illustrate version 9.0, imagine that you find out on the Internet that Uber is launching the Uber Eats service. It is a good delivery service that only requires a good application! In addition, the system works with suppliers on their own. It sounds perfect to be successful in a new venture.

But if you do not have the resources and the right experience, do not even try. Remember that to be successful, Morkes recommends starting with the beta version of your idea.

Now you see the importance of having clear your priorities to be successful?

3. When the market changes, adjust your plan

The innovation of the new economy is not static. On the contrary, the era of rigid one year in advance plans is part of the past. No one can succeed in the old business style anymore. Having well-organized methods and aligned with your business plan also helps with changes in the company.

Stéphanie Kennan, president of Bang Marketing, published an article in the online magazine Less Affaires in which she points out that 30% of Quebec SMEs invest less than $ 5,000 a year in their sales and marketing activities.

For Kennan, this is “disturbing, because today’s competition does not come from Rouyn, Quebec or Trois-Rivières.” The competition is global. Therefore, it is necessary that, in order for Quebecers to be successful, they carry out their plans oriented locally, but with a global approach.

4. All your business priorities must be based on the legal regulations

Not complying with legal regulations is the perfect way to not succeed in your business. It is the road to failure. That’s why all the decisions of your business must be under the law.

Closing a business may seem simple, but it was not so easy for the Olymel meat processor. The company closed its plant in Saint-Valérien and Saint-Simon in 2007, without reaching an understanding with the workers’ union. They subjected Olymel to justice and she was sentenced to pay 14 million in minimum wages for 406 workers in 2015.

Your company can have the most requested trades, with the highest paid employees; but if you do not comply with labor laws, you can go through the experience of Olymel.

Conclusion

The experts in coaching, entrepreneurship, and marketing focus their message on maintaining focus. In that sense, you are the owner of your own business, the mastermind whose brain emanated the main idea; but you cannot take care of everything at the same time.

Cultivate the right attitude and habits and start with the correct version of your business are the bases to succeed at the start of your products and services. Remember that your company can be more efficient if the priorities are set together with your team.

Bibliography

1. Anonymous (2009). The Challenge of growing a business and how to meet them. Retrieved from https://www.infoentrepreneurs.org/en/guides/the-challenges-of-growing-a-business—and-how-to-meet-them/
2. Kennan, Stephanie. (January 6, 2017). 5 examples qui prouvent que le becbec prend du retard in marketing. Retrieved from https://www.lesaffaires.com/blogues/stephanie-kennan/le-retard-du-quebec-en-marketing-se-creuse/592551
3. Morkes, Tom. (s / f). The 4 step process to set priorities in your business. Retrieved from https://tommorkes.com/how-to-set-priorities/
4. The Presse Canadienne. (August 4, 2015). Fermeture de l’usine Saint-Simon: Olymel déboutée en cour supérieure. Retrieved from https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/732542/olymel-deboutee-cour-superieure-fermeture-usine-saint-simon

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Carpe Diem – Top Work Time Management Practices

Time Management: Use these basic principles to seize the opportunities that life brings to you.

Exclusive for OpusTime
Written by Aleah Cristy

There is this quote that goes: “Enjoy life today, for yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never come.” It’s another way of looking at Roman poet Horace’s famous Latin phrase “Carpe Diem” or “seize the day”. But with the constant demands of today’s fast-paced world, how can one manage to make the most out of today? Successful people will tell you that the key is to prioritize and manage your time. These are two of the most valuable time management life skills you need to learn if you want to be able to succeed in most, if not all, aspects of your life. When it comes to work, here are some of the best time management practices that can help you make the most out of your workdays:

Learn to say no

There is an art to being able to firmly say no without feeling bad afterward. Social media manager Ohui Kwao believes it’s important that you know you can’t please everybody nor can you do everything that is asked of you. “It may feel like you are disappointing others by saying no but if you constantly say yes, people will take advantage of you,” she says. Not only that, constantly saying yes to tasks at work can fill your schedule with more than you can handle. Saying no to a few tasks is better than saying yes to everything and not being able to deliver.

Use technology to your advantage

One of the best things about working in the digital age is how almost everything you need is available online. Trackers and schedulers are some of the best examples. Schedulers like OpusTime allow you to keep track of everything with one simple click. It can even handle tasks automatically helping ease your workload.

Find a good work/life balance

No matter your job, you need time to recharge. This is especially true with the rise of remote workers. Fast Company states how remote workers need discipline, as “the lines between the home and office get blurry”. As there is no definitive stop time, remote workers have to be able to set their own schedule or risk an increase in work-related stress. The shift to remote working structures has led to a change in how many businesses now operate. A post by Maryville University on organizational leadership shows how there is an increasing demand for tech-driven employees who can manage remote workers. This new breed of leader needs to understand how to handle remote workers, and how to make sure they are productive without sacrificing a healthy work/life balance. However, the responsibility ultimately lies with the remote employees as they will be working independently.

Don’t procrastinate

If you spend more time preparing yourself for work than actually doing some work, you will never get things done. Lifehack notes that procrastination is one of the top things that affect productivity. One of the best ways to stop it is to avoid your triggers. Identify what often stops you from working. Do you get easily distracted? Do you feel demotivated? Are your goals clear and realistic? Understanding why you put off work until the last minute can help you build better habits.

Seize the day means something different to everyone. However, it doesn’t remove the fact that unless you are able to manage your time properly, you won’t be able to make the most out of your days.

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