Setting priorities effectively - time management for entrepreneurs - Entrepreneur's Notebook

Nation's Business, August, 1995 by David Sher, Martin Sher

It is often said that you shouldn't put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Unfortunately for business owners, such immediacy of action isn't always possible. Juggling priorities becomes an essential skill.

We operate four businesses, all based in Birmingham, Ala.: AmChex Collection Services, Legal Locator Nationwide, and two furniture businesses, Happy Rents and Mr. King Furniture. All are fastgrowing.

In 1994, the four companies had total sales of about $8 million.

In 1992, we were honored as Alabama's top Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative designee. The program, sponsored by Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co., the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Nation's Business, recognizes small businesses that have overcome tough challenges and emerged stronger. (The challenge we face was adjusting to the momentous business impact of the 1986 federal tax code overhaul.)

Our success is in large measure a result of knowing how to respond to demands on our time. As we have learned at time-management seminars, such demands can be broken down into four categories:

* Important and urgent. These demands are easy to assess. When a pipe bursts and water pours into your basement, there is little doubt about how you should be focusing your energies.

* Less important but urgent. These are problems that require immediate action to keep a business running smoothly An example is arranging backup when a receptionist calls in sick or a truck breaks down.

* Less important and not urgent. This is where most of us spend--waste--too much time. There are many business tasks that can be delegated, such as the initial screening of job applications--you don't have to read every resume--and routine bookkeeping chores.

* Important but not urgent. This category covers demands on our time that, when tended to, lead to endless payoffs. Planning is one example. These are the tasks that make the most difference in how a company functions, yet a lack of urgency makes it easy to never get around to them.

In prioritizing, business people most often err by not giving those tasks that are "important but not urgent" high enough priority. Here are some of the things we do that have the biggest impact on our four companies:

* Weekly planning. It's our highest priority. The two of us set aside half a day each week for a walk of six to eight miles. This is when we review what our goals are, what we're doing to attain those goals, and what we're going to do in the future. By being away from our desks, we avoid interruptions and feel more creative.

* Visits to other successful companies. It's easy to say you don't have time for business trips because of your workload, but we've learned a number of important lessons--including the time value of hiring the best people available and allowing them to work without interference--by visiting other successful companies.

* Being active in trade associations and in the community. Trade association meetings and conventions offer a wealth of information, ideas, and contacts. Community service offers the opportunity to meet community leaders, improve quality of life, and enhance your own name recognition and list of contacts.

* Staying in touch with clients. By doing so, we know what they want and need. That, in turn, means we plan better and spend less time putting out brush fires.

Fundamental to effective time management is asking and re-asking yourself these questions: "Is this how I am supposed to be spending my time? Is there something more important I could be doing?" When the answer to these questions is "no," you are maximizing your time potential and have your priorities in the right order.

Davids and Martin Sher are brothers and co-owners of AmChex Collection Services, Legal Locator Nationwide, Mr King Furniture, and Happy Rents, all in Birmingham Ala. They prepared this account with Nation's Business Contributing Editor Susan Biddle Jaffe.

Readers with special insights on meeting the challenges of starting or running a business are invited to contribute to Entrepreneur's Notebook. Write to: Editor, Nation's Business, 1615 H Street N.W, Washington, D.C. 20062-2000.