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Mastering Systems for Scalable Success

Discover the Power of Implementing Efficient Systems in Your Pet Sitting Business”!
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Are you a pet sitting business owner looking to take your business to new heights? Do you want to learn how to streamline your operations, increase your revenue, and have more freedom? Then this event is for you! 💪💼

We will dive deep into the importance of implementing efficient systems in your pet sitting business. From scheduling and client management to team coordination and service quality, we will cover it all. Our expert speaker, Colleen Sedgwick will share their valuable insights, strategies, and tips to help you master systems for scalable success. 📚✨

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to transform your pet sitting business and achieve the freedom and success you deserve! 🎉🚀

Spread the word and invite your fellow pet sitting business owners who could benefit from this valuable knowledge. 💌👥

Hey there, Newbie Pet Sitter! Are you feeling stuck or overwhelmed with starting your pet sitting business? Fret no longer, my friend. I’ve got ya covered!
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How to Start Streamlining Your Small Pet Sitting Company

Today’s question comes from Gloria, who’s having challenges with streamlining and deficiency in her very small business. Gloria is a sole proprietor.

What I would love to say to Gloria is that I love that you’re asking questions about this. It doesn’t matter how small your business is. Many of you out there don’t want to grow a team and don’t want to have a large business like mine, and that’s fine, but it doesn’t mean that your business can’t be streamlined for efficiency. And how do you start doing this?

Take the processes out of your head and create a standard operating procedure document.

Most petprepreneurs walk around with their businesses in their head, meaning they are the systems in their business. But when you start taking them out of your head and documenting them into a well-organized checklist, you’re now creating systems and processes in your business, replicable and repeatable processes in your business, creating a streamlined company that becomes more efficient.

How to Start Streamlining my Small Pet Sitting Company


Create a manual or an online business hub.

That is my advice for you today. Start taking the processes you carry around in your head, documenting them, and organizing them somehow. You could create a manual or an online business hub, which is what we do with my Multiply Mastermind students. We organize everything in Google Drive, all by SOPs, where everything is easy to find and delegate if you choose to do so in the future.

So the system runs the business. The person runs the system. You don’t want to be the system in your business. You want to run the systems that you have documented in your business. And that’s going to create a streamlined pet sitting company.

 

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Accountability Buddies for Pet Sitters

The concept of accountability buddies for pet sitters came into my existence years ago when I was part of a Mastermind Group. We were assigned a new accountability buddy each quarter, and we were told to have a five-minute conversation with them every work day. On the call, we were to tell the other person the three tasks that we were to work on that day. The following day we would hold each other accountable and then tell each other our three tasks for that day and so on and so forth.

In my experience, this was just too much! The conversation was supposed to only be five minutes, but if you had a chatty partner, you would be on the phone for much longer than that which ate up valuable time in my day. I then started to dread these calls, which utterly defeated the purpose.

My Accountability Buddies for Pet Sitters System

  1. Find a buddy using our FREE Pet Nanny Coach Community Facebook Group. Use the #accountabilitybuddy
  2. Pick a standing day and time that you will meet each week and put it on repeat on your calendar with reminders, so you don’t forget.
  3. Share your top 3 goals/tasks for the week.

Why Accountability Buddies for Pet Sitters are so Powerful

Being in business for yourself, you only need to answer to yourself. You don’t have a boss who gives you strict deadlines. You’re the boss, and if you don’t feel like doing something, nobody is going to make you do it. But if you have an accountability buddy, you now have someone to answer to, and you are going to be much more likely to complete your tasks. This process turns your “good intentions” into actual “to-do’s.”

Identify Your Champagne Moment

Cara Bentley of Lifehack Bootcamp coined the phrase your “Champagne Moment.” This is what you really need to focus on what’s really going to move your business forward.

Do this exercise weekly (ideally with your accountability buddy!) on Sunday night to sort out the critical tasks from the seemingly important tasks.

1: What could you do this week that would deserve popping a bottle of champagne and truly celebrating? Think beyond “shallow work” like emails and meetings. What’s a moment that would really propel your life or career forward?

2: What’s the #1 goal this week that would help you get to that result?

3: How many hours would take you to accomplish your goal? Is it doable in a week?

4: What’s the #1 task you can complete on MONDAY to get you to your weekly goal?

5a: Write down 3 potential things that could DISTRACT or PREVENT you from reaching your goal.

5b: What’s your “plan of defense” to STOP those things from happening?

Would you feel like popping open a bottle of champagne and CELEBRATING when your weekly goal is complete? If not, repeat this exercise! It’s not a Champagne Moment unless you would want to CELEBRATE it.

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How to Multiply Your Pet Business

Today we’re talking to the multipliers, those who are at the stage in their pet business where they have laid the foundation, have the website, the profit plan, the clarity, and all of the goodness in place. They have clients.

But they’re working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year in their business. They are doing the pet sitting, the house sitting, the dog walking, the scheduling, the emailing, the sitter management (if they have them), the client resolution, and everything that goes along with running a pet business.

This is where most of us get stuck. This was where I majorly got stuck. I had no idea how to get out of this grind of the day-to-day working constantly and not understanding what I needed to do to multiply my business. I was stuck at an income level. I lived a life that I was not happy with, working way too much, and didn’t know what to do.

So I took the first step, and I decided to go for it. I hired private mentors, joined mastermind groups, coaching programs, attended seminars. I read books. I learned. That’s pretty much what anybody can do. Because you don’t know what you don’t know. I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

After years of studying and implementing, I saw my income start to increase drastically. Years later, I found out that my income level is at the top of the pet-sitting industry. So people started coming to me and saying, “Oh my gosh, Colleen. How did you do this? And can you teach me how to do it?” And I was like, “Well, I’m not a business coach.”

I started thinking that if I can help other people, I’ll give it a shot. And that’s where Pet Nanny Coach came from. At that point, I taught many pet business owners how to multiply their businesses to six figures and beyond in 12 months or less.

That’s what I’m here to talk to you about today. What needs to be done in your pet business so that you can multiply to six figures and beyond, get yourself out of the day-to-day, and start enjoying your life? When you have a business, you’re not meant to work in it seven days a week, 365 days a year. That’s more of a job, and that’s not a good job. I’d rather go work for someone else, and have my weekends and nights free, to be honest.

So the eight steps in my Multiply Formula are:

Step 1: You need to learn how to effectively manage your time so that you get more done in your business.

Everybody I talk to says: “Colleen, I don’t have the time.” Well, guess what? You need to make the time. It’s not just going to happen magically. A business wrapped in a nice big red bow is not going to be left on your front doorstep.

You have to take the time to learn about all of this stuff and implement the strategies to make it happen. So that’s step one. It would be best if you learned how to manage your time effectively. That’s going to be step one in getting you out of the business of constantly working in the business. You need to start working on the business.

Step 2: You need to put your marketing on autopilot so that you are consistently attracting a pipeline of new clients to your business.

Some pet business owners do feast or famine marketing; some don’t market at all. It’s impossible to maintain your business with that. People move. People have babies. You may have clients you no longer want to work with.

There are reasons why you need to be generating new business. And it would be best if you had a marketing plan and a marketing calendar, implemented and on autopilot so that you were consistently bringing new clients into your pet business.

Step 3: Design amazing customer experiences so that your customers refer you all over town.

Most of the sitters that I talk to pretty much are doing the basics. They answer the phone, they set up clients in the scheduling software, go to the meet and greet, have them sign the papers, and do the visits. And that’s it.

So think about what a fantastic customer experience is for you. Have you ever flown with a particular airline that’s just been amazing? And you’re like, “Oh, this is so great.” Or you’ve been to a hotel where you feel like you’re like a prince or princess. Think about things you can do to really wow these new customers of yours and make them raving fans.

Don’t just do the bare minimum. Go above and beyond and make these customers raving fans. That is how they’re going to refer you. They’re not going to refer you if you’re just kind of like, “Okay, I’m going to do the bare minimum and then roll out.” It doesn’t work that way.

How to Multiply Your Pet Business


Step 4: Build a team of heart-centered pet care professionals who will take stellar care of your customer’s pets.

This is another spot where sitters get stuck. They’re like, “It’s all about me. I am the reason that all of my clients love me. They’re not going to use my pet business if it’s not me doing the pet-sitting.” And I just got to tell you, you have to get that thought out of your brain because it’s not true.

It’s a story that you’ve made up in your head. And yes, if you decide to hire for the first time, you may have some customers  jump ship. But I guarantee they’re not the customers that you love and adore working with. The customers that I loved and adored working with when I made this leap into building a team were happy for me. They understood that I needed to build a team to even be in business and make ends meet in this industry.

It can’t just be any team. You can’t just pick any Joe Schmoe off the street and send them out to your client’s homes. You need to find heart-centered pet care professionals who will love and adore your clients just the way you are. So what does that mean? I’ve talked about this before.

You need to have an attraction system, a hiring system, and an onboarding system that will create these amazing team members who will create unforgettable experiences for your customers. It’s no easy feat. Team building is one of the hardest things you’re going to do in your business. Learning how to do it right and building an incredible team makes life so easy, fun, and great. And you’re going to start loving your business again. It gives you the time to start enjoying your life.

Step 5: Create systems and processes in your business.

You should be documenting every single thing that you do in your pet business, more than once. So many people have their businesses in their heads, and they run it by saying, “Okay, what are we going to do now? What’s next?”

You should have everything documented, A to Z. What does every single thing in your business look like? It needs to be documented somewhere. Then it’s super easy to delegate. You don’t ever want to be the only person that knows and understands your business. If something happened to you, somebody on your team or a family member could jump in and know what to do.

Step 6: Organize your business finances and generate greater profitability by creating a Profit First financial system.

This is where I fell short for entirely too long. I was like the worst with my finances. And until Profit First by Mike Michalowicz came into my life, the more money I made, the more money I spent.

Setting up a Profit First financial system starts with organizing your finances with at least a business checking account. I can’t even tell you how many people I talked to who don’t even have business checking accounts. Everything’s being funneled into one account. By the way, there’s no judgment because I did that for a lot of years. I’m just saying there are easier ways to manage your money and create a more profitable business by getting your finances in order.

Step 7: Hire a powerhouse manager to run the day-to-day operations in your business, and you can focus your time and your energy on business growth.

Sitters sometimes say, “I’m still working in the business. How am I going to hire a manager?” This doesn’t have to happen immediately, but this needs to be a goal of yours.

The first goal is building a team of sitters. Then you remove yourself. You become the manager. When that becomes a full-time job, that is when you have to hire a powerhouse manager. I have three exceptional managers work for me, whom I trust to treat my clients well.

I call them my client’s happiness managers, and my clients love that too. But that frees up your time to focus on business growth, which is marketing, getting clients, streamlining, and systematizing so you can multiply.

Step 8: Automate as many of the manual tasks in your business to save time and increase efficiency.

You got to get on board with the technology. Not every phone call, email, the text message has to happen manually from you.

You can set up marketing campaigns where people go through funnels on your website, where the goal is for them to become buyers and customers. You can streamline your whole hiring system using automation.

You can send lockboxes and cards and all sorts of cool things using automation. Automation rules, and it’s super scary for a lot of you. I get it. I’m a tech person, so it’s not frightening for me, and I’ve embraced it. Automation and technology are here to free up your time and make you money. So if you take the time to learn it, you are going to benefit significantly from it.

To make a substantial income in this industry, you need to leverage yourself through a team of heart-centered pet care professionals who will take stellar care of your client’s pets. You have to do all this.

 

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How to Find the Time to Work ON Your Pet Sitting Business

So many pet sitting business owners say, “I don’t have the time. I’m now doing visits 15 hours a day. How do I have the time to grow the business?” So I thought, you know what, I’m going to put together a mini-training for you guys so that you can find the time to start working on the growth of your business.

In my Multiply mastermind program, I’ve devoted an entire module to designing a time management system because, let’s get real… if you can’t take the time to work on your pet sitting business, you’re not going to be able to scale it. Learning to manage your time effectively is an absolute must!

We all have the same allotted hours a day given to us, and we all will make the time for what we want and care about. Why does the growth of your business fall to the bottom of that list?

Figure out how you’re using your time.

I want you to challenge your perspective around your time. I want you to look hard at what’s happening with your time. You have to study how you work and what you do with every single hour of every single day. This close study is the only way to recognize bad habits you’ve developed over time and get a comprehensive look at what’s consuming your time so that you can make intentional shifts to find the time you need to work on your business.

Social media is a giant time suck. I have business owners who tell me they don’t have a single minute to work on the growth of their business, but then every time I’m on Facebook, there they are! If you’re spending countless 10 to 20-minute pockets of time of day on Facebook or Instagram, I just found you more than an hour a day to work on your business.

Find those time leaks.

So I have a whole workbook here for you guys at SuccessfulPetSitter.com head over there and download it. I want you to download my Daily Log Sheet at www.SuccessfulPetSitter.com, and I want you to log every activity you partake in each day for seven to 14 consecutive days.

Then I want you to categorize each activity. You’re going to be tracking everything you do on your time log, and then we’re going to categorize them. The category of time for this exercise is tactical work. This is you working in your business.

Strategic work, this is you working on your business. And non-business-related activities like family time are not bad; we all need family time. However, I still want you to categorize it, Netflix, Facebook, et cetera.

Lastly, interruptions are huge telephone calls, computer problems, kids, et cetera, text messages, and news alerts on your phone. If you can figure out how you’re constantly interrupted, maybe putting the do not disturb on will save you an hour a day. That works for me.

For example, let’s say you did visits from 7:00 AM to 9:30 AM. This would be tactical work. You answered phone calls and emails from 9:30 to 10:30 AM, tactical work. You mapped out an email marketing campaign from 10:30 to 11:40 AM, strategic work.

From 11:40 AM to 12:10 PM, you read your favorite celebrity blogs, non-business related. You get the picture. After two weeks of consistent tracking, you’ll see trends and patterns emerge in both your activities and the types of work you’re focused on.

How much strategic work are you doing, and how much tactical work are you doing? Also, what time of the day do you find yourself being most productive with your strategic work? I found out that I’m productive in the morning. As the day progresses, the less and less excited I am to do strategic work. You need to find that time and protect it. If it’s 6:00 in the morning, you need to figure out how to get to that computer at 6:00 AM every morning so that you can maximize that productivity time.

How often are you interrupted or distracted from completing a task? I just went over that. Study those interruptions and consider what they suggest about your business systems and habits. Making connections like this allows you to begin becoming more deliberate about how you’re using your valuable time.

Speaking of, I just got interrupted. I’m in the middle of recording. I did not put my phone on do not disturb, and there it is buzzing away. At least I have the sound off. Interruptions are huge guys, figure out how you’re being interrupted and try to minimize those interruptions as much as you can.

Step to embrace the strategic work of your business. It is fun. The truth is most pet-sitting business owners are “Technicians” at heart. They feel the greatest sense of reward when they’re productive, working in their business, and caring for their furry friends.

And strategic work- thinking about and developing strategies that guide the direction of your business can be frustrating to the technically-driven person. It can feel at worst like a waste of time, and at best, like a luxury.

You need to shift your mindset. It would be best if you believed that sitting and thinking about your business is precious work. What’s more, it’s part of your job – the one you chose for yourself as an owner of a business. To stop and think differently about your business takes a massive shift in perspective.

To break this mindset that built your business and got it to this point, you need to accept that doing the strategic work has a big payoff. And it does because if you don’t take the time to think more prominent than the day-to-day and create the structure your business needs to grow, nothing’s ever going to change.

I was stuck in that mindset for entirely too long. Just thinking of the day-to-day, what problems are in front of me? What can I fix right now? Instead of looking at the bigger picture.

Make the strategic work in your pet sitting business a priority by planning your day ahead of time.

This is huge. Working on your business is not extracurricular. It’s not something you do on the weekend or at night after your kids are in bed. That would be more of your life taken up by your business, which is precisely what we’re trying to free you from. You absolutely must make space in your daily schedule to do this work – because as the owner, this is your real job.

I want you to plan your day ahead of time. This is a massive piece of the puzzle.

QUOTE - How Do I Find The Time To Work On My Pet Sitting Biz


My challenge is to set aside one to two hours a day to work on your pet sitting business solely. Think about what you could accomplish in a year if you committed at least five hours a week to business growth. That’s 260 hours devoted to your business. Whoa! I want you to schedule this time on your calendar.

If you don’t schedule it, it’s just wishful thinking, and it will not happen. So every Monday through Friday from 5:30 AM to 7:00 AM, I’m working on my business. The times can vary. It doesn’t matter. This is simply a date you’re making with yourself. Don’t stand yourself up. That’s very rude.

If your day isn’t set before it begins, there’s no shot you’ll ever find the space you need to work on strategic priorities. Every business owner goes to bed the night before with great intentions, but if you don’t have the next day planned out, you inevitably fall into the familiar trap of having the day happen to you. Before you know it, it’s 8 PM, and you wonder where the time went.

So before your day begins, plan your schedule. Don’t make it the first task of the day. Don’t wake up and say, okay, I’m going to plan my day now. It needs to be done the day before because it won’t happen if you do it the day of.

Sit down at the end of each day, the night before, or in the morning before you arrive at the office. At the very least, I suggest the night before you even step foot into your workspace and get your priority tasks on your schedule.

I don’t want you sitting down at your desk where you work, checking your email, and then having the ambition to do your daily planning. Something else like an email, a customer, some fire you have to put out will demand your immediate attention, and your priorities will be sidelined. So if you’re going to do it in the morning of, do it before you enter your workspace, so you don’t get sidetracked.

Create systems for your life.

At Pet Nanny Coach, creating systems for your pet sitting business is a big part of what we do. Owners come to us looking for systems to give them control over all the critical parts of their businesses, produce order out of chaos, and create consistency and predictability that eliminate overwhelm and boost their businesses value.

Systems rule. And yes, systems do all of this and can ultimately help you create a business that better serves the life you dream of having. But to truly transform your business, you also need systems in your life.

In all my time working with business owners, I’ve learned how much business impacts life and how life can impact business. Imagine this: Every morning, you struggle to get your kids off to school, which creates a ripple effect. As a result, you get on the highway 10 minutes later than you want – a critical 10 minutes that means traffic is much worse – so you get to your first visit later, which pushes out the next one. So the whole day, you’re playing catch up, and it all started with getting your kids out the door on time.

There’s a system, pack their lunches and lay out their clothes the night before. Kids get bathed the night before and do not put the TV on in the morning. Four straightforward things that you can do that will keep you on track in the morning. I know this seems simple, but most won’t create and stick to this system.

I have a girlfriend. I was at her house one morning, and it was utter chaos. And the kids are always late, and they don’t have coats, forget their lunches, and forget their money. And I think if she just did these four things, her life would be so much easier, but she won’t do it.

To help you work on yourself as a leader:

  • Work on yourself in your own life.
  • Look at your life and ask what’s happening that negatively impacts your ability to be present and conscious enough to do the strategic work of your business.
  • Develop a routine that takes you from a reactive to a proactive state of mind – and stick to it.

That’s the goal here. We’re always trying to be proactive with our time instead of just reacting to things that happen to us day in and day out.


Howdy, Pet Lover! Do you want to have all the pet sitting clients you need? This resource is 100% FREE and is my gift to you. Enjoy!
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The 1 Hour Rule

You may have heard the 10,000-hour rule, which means that you can learn to become an expert at anything as long as you give it 10,000 hours of your time. Now, this very well may be true.

However, thinking that way stops people in their tracks because your brain automatically goes into overwhelm and overdrive. And when that happens, you start procrastinating, and therefore you do not take action, so you stay stuck where you are.

Think a little smaller.

Think about doing one newsletter or writing one blog post, learning how to do one automation inside your email autoresponder, or completing one module. Just think of it as one hour of your time each workday, Monday through Friday, and think about all that you can accomplish by just focusing on that one task and that one hour.

Chunk down these big projects into tiny, small, manageable tasks.

Block out that time on your calendar to show up for yourself and your business, these wins will start to stack, and then you’re going to gain momentum, and then you’re going to get clarity because clarity comes from taking action.

Instead of thinking like, “Oh my gosh, 10,000 hours I’m going to have to put into learning how to build a business”…


The 1 Hour Rule


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26 Office Organization Strategies

Office organization requires effort and planning, but it isn’t difficult to accomplish.

QUOTE - 26 Office Organization Strategies


Use these tips to turn your office into a haven for productivity.

1. Declutter.

This is what I’m focused on this month with my Multiply Mastermind students and my Scholar students. We’re doing a 30-day decluttering challenge, not only of our office but also of our homes and lives.

Empty, shred, get rid of everything that you don’t need or want. Take everything out and look at it. Then throw away or donate anything you don’t need. Ask yourself the question, is this serving me still? Am I using this? If not, it’s time to go.

Take one area at a time. If it doesn’t work, send it out for repair or toss it. If you haven’t used it in months and can’t think of when you need it, out it goes. Don’t forget about knick-knacks, plants, real or artificial, and decorations. If they’re covered with dust and make your office look shabby, they’re fair game.

2. The Desk Zone.

Desks should only contain the necessities, like your computer, phone, printer, and reference materials. Too many things cause clutter and disorganization.

Ideally, your desk should have drawers for supplies and files used daily. Pens, pencils, tape, paperclips, and staples should all stay in containers or in easy to reach drawers. This is your workspace. This is where you are going to make great things happen. You want to make sure this is clear of clutter, so you can focus and be productive on your business.

3. Clean Off Your Computer Desktop.

Digital messes count as clutter, too. Files sitting on your computer desktop are distracting and will make it difficult to focus. I make this part of my monthly system, where I am cleaning off all the files on my computer desktop.

I’m constantly downloading things, and I take that one day a month to put them in the correct Dropbox or Google Drive folder. I can tell when I look at somebody’s computer screen, and it’s covered with files, that we got some internal stuff going on. Remember, once a month, get that desktop cleaned.

4. The Paperless Office.

One of the best things you can do for your office and the environment is to go paperless. Paper creates clutter. Although a certain amount of paper is necessary, try reading and storing documents online instead. Before you hit the print key, ask yourself, do I need to print this?

5. Go Digital.

Organize all your files in cloud-based software like Google Drive or Dropbox. I use both. I teach my students in my Multiply Mastermind program how to create their business hub in Google Drive.

Then you want to create systems so that your files are easily accessible. If you went inside of my Google Drive or my Dropbox, you would think I have some severe OCD problems, but I can find anything in two seconds flat. That is how organized I have these files in there.

6. Inbox and Outbox.

Having in and out boxes on your desk creates space for those documents that have to be printed, as well as incoming and outgoing mail. This allows you to know exactly where documents are instead of having them in piles all over your desk.

7. Snail Mail.

Sort your mail every single day. Don’t just stick it in a pile to be sorted. Every day, the mail comes in. What’s going in the trash? What’s being shredded? What’s going in your inbox to deal with that week?

If you wait and just let those piles stack up on your kitchen counter or in your office, it’s going to create brain clutter. Remember, we’re trying to clear our outer space to stay focused on the important things that we want to accomplish during the week. Do daily mail sorting. It takes 2 seconds.

8. Filing Cabinets

An organized office needs file cabinets. Color coding makes it easier and faster to find information. If your files become stuffed, clean them out. Put prior years’ files in a labeled storage box to free space. For all of the documents that I need daily, I want them just like an arm’s reach away.

I have a silver cabinet here, things that I don’t need as often. So like worker’s comp stuff, insurance stuff, stuff like that, that goes in there. But quite honestly, again, I have very little paper because I’m trying to keep everything in the cloud.

9. Magazine Boxes.

Store the magazines you want to keep in special magazine boxes on a shelf to declutter your workspace. Better yet, throw them out as soon as you’re done reading them.

My mom loves to order me magazines, even though I constantly ask her not to because they create clutter. My system is when the magazine comes, I read it immediately so I can toss it. It stresses me out. When I see the magazine, I’m like, oh, I have so much to do, I don’t want to read this magazine, but I don’t want it hanging around. So I read them the day they come, and then I toss them.

If that’s not something you want to do, you can get these magazine boxes at, The Container Store, keep them on a shelf, so they’re not creating clutter in your office or life.

10. Paper Shredder.

Shred documents with personal information that you don’t need to keep. This will free up file space and protect your confidentiality as well. You don’t want to be throwing any of your personal papers with your information directly in the trash, so use your shredder for those documents.

11. Filter Your Email.

Create a filtering system for your emails. Examples of mailboxes to create, customer care, sitter correspondence, drafts. You’ll always want to have a drafts folder, so you do not have to re-type every single email that you send to sitters and clients, the applications that come in, etc. and you can have a complete file.

So what I do in my Mac mail program is I flag. I move all the things I need to do that need my attention that I have not yet completed. I flag them, and they’re in that folder. And then I go in and complete them. When I’m done, remove the flag and then delete the email.

You can also create rules inside your email client, where certain emails automatically get sent to these folders, and you don’t have to do it manually. But the goal is inbox zero. You don’t want your Inbox completely cluttered with emails. If you’re not reading them, delete them. Get rid of them or filter them.

12. Do not disturb.

Reclaim your time by hanging a sign on the door or a dry erase board to let others know you’re unavailable. Dedicated work time helps maintain an organized mind, as well as an organized office.

I don’t know what I would do without my do not disturb sign. When my three little children come home from school, they would barrel through the door if I didn’t have that sign on there. I know many of you have issues with boundaries with siblings, not siblings, spouses, or parents living with them, or children living with them. This is how you create that boundary – putting that do not disturb sign up on your office door.

13. Personal Items.

Personal items can crowd your workspace, and that’s okay, but don’t let them overrun you. Designate a specific area for personal items, and this will keep your desk organized and free from distraction.

So my children love to make me projects at school, and they want me to hang them all over my office. And I do too, but I don’t keep them too long. This is the only one I have right now. It says Happy Mother’s Day. And this is a pen in a cute little pot, but I keep this on my desk, but this will go away soon, just because I don’t like clutter.

14. Plan It.

A personal planner or desk calendar will help you keep track of your schedule and deadlines. Write everything down, including birthdays, appointments, client meetings, deadlines, and other helpful notes.

If you are a pen and paper girl, you can get calendars on Amazon that you can keep on your desk. I personally love Google Calendar, and I have a calendar for just my personal appointments. I have a calendar for my kids. I have a calendar for my marketing. I have a calendar for my programs, so on and so forth. I can share them with my students in certain programs or share them with my husband or share them with my team. They all sync from every device, and it truly is a lifesaver. So I personally love Google Calendar but use what you like.

15. Once a Month, Do a Clean Sweep.

Spend one day a month doing a total clean sweep in your office. Put files and supplies back where they belong, clean out desk drawers and file cabinets, shred papers that you don’t need if they contain personal information. Schedule a day to do this.

Every first Monday of the month, I have a business organization day where I do all of this. You know, my desktop, the computer desktop, my office, papers, throwing things away from the filing cabinet, going into my QuickBooks online, looking at the revenue and expenses from the month before, so on and so forth. It is a scheduled day on my calendar where I am doing a clean sweep.

16. Tip-Top Computers.

Computers are the lifeline of an office. Dust it weekly to keep it in tip-top shape, install and use antivirus software and system utilities to keep your computer running well. Also, you’ll want to back up and empty the trash regularly. This was big for me.

I do videos all the time, and I had so many videos sitting in my trash can. It was slowing down my computer so badly, and I didn’t even realize it. Now every week the computer gets dusted and the trash gets emptied.

17. What To Do.

Maintaining a to-do list will help you stay organized. Make it a habit to write down important tasks and cross them off as they’re completed.

Something I teach my students in my programs is called the See It Through Strategy. And a big part of this is taking weekly, either on a Sunday or Monday, you’re getting everything out of your brain, and you’re putting it on your to-do list, and then you’re scheduling it on your calendar.

I love to keep all of my notes on an app called Notability on my iPad, so everything is all in one place. You can use a notebook, you can use a Google Doc, but the point is that you are getting it out of your brain and putting it down on paper to use that brain space for business generating, money-making activities.

If we have everything in our minds, things don’t get done. It causes confusion. We want clarity, and doing this thought download at the beginning of the week of all of our to-dos and then organizing them on our calendar is so important. Again, I use Notability, which I love.

18. Deadline.

No one likes them, but we all need them. Incorporate your deadlines into your master to-do list and keep that handy in your planner. Sticking to a deadline schedule will force you to stay on track. Parkinson’s Law states that something will take for as long as you give it.

So if you say you want to get a website designed and you don’t give yourself a deadline, it could take you six months. But if you say, I’m going to give myself one month to get this done, that is how you increase your productivity. You have to provide yourself with deadlines, or otherwise, it’s just going to eat up all your time and take forever.

19. Ugly Cords.

Tidy up those messy cords with twist ties or rubber bands. I ordered a whole bunch of different colored ones on Amazon.

20. Reference Zone.

Set up a specific zone in your office for these materials. This could include binders, books, manuals, magazines, dictionaries, and professional items. A bookcase should fit the zone nicely.

I have a giant cupboard over here that I got at an auction. It holds so much stuff, it’s unreal, but this is where my reference zone is. All of my binders and reference documents from any program that I’ve ever joined, or documents that I create for my students is right here, and it’s behind a closed door so I don’t see it. If you can get something where you can close the door and keep that organized, that’ll be great.

21. Fresh Start.

Straighten your desk at the end of each day. That way, when you sit down in the morning, you can start with a clean slate. If you have a priority task that needs to be completed first thing in the morning, leave it out on the desk to help you get focused and ready to go.

If you do this one tip, I promise you your productivity is going to skyrocket. That is something I do, systematizing pretty much everything in my life, but at the end of every day, this desk is cleaned off.

That way, I can sit down with a clean slate, a clean mind, and get going first thing. If I sat down with piles of stuff everywhere, that’s not a good way to start your day.

It takes two minutes. Just clean off your desk, put everything away, and turn it off, shut it down, and head out.

22. Label It.

A label machine is your best friend. Labeling all files, folders, bins, containers, trays, boxes, and other organizational tools lets you know exactly what’s inside.

I used to have a Dymo label maker and stamp printer on my desk that took up a lot more space, so I switched to this because I don’t want clutter.

So label everything, and that way, you know exactly where everything should go.

23. Charge It Up.

Designate a space in your office to charge all of your devices. There are three children and two adults living in this house. We all have multiple devices. There were cords everywhere. Everybody was charging things in different places until I got a dry sink at an auction. And we set up a charging station. So everything’s organized. We have all of the charging cords labeled, so we know whose cord is whose, and everything’s right in one spot.

24. Organize Your Valuable Documents.

Create a special kit for all of your valuable documents, assets, and personal information. I ordered a fireproof briefcase from Susie Orman, the financial guru. We keep marriage certificates, birth certificates and anything about our assets in there.

You have to think if the house were to burn down and you could grab one thing, what would you need? That’s where you want to keep all those documents. It’s super organized.

25. Build a Life Binder.

Organize important papers in an easy grab-and-go binder. Here are some categories: medical, pet, auto, manuals, house, kids, and personal.

Many manuals are kept online now, so you might not even have to keep those anymore—just something to keep in mind. Keep it in your reference zone, and you can pull the binder out, and everything is right there and organized.

26. Utilize Wall Space.

If you have a small space, use your wall space to hang filing systems, calendars, whiteboards, shelving, and more. There’s so much more space when you go vertical.

Before I moved here to Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, I had a smaller office at my old house, and I used the wall space. It had all of my calendars and whiteboards and shelving.

Here, I don’t need it as much. I have a much larger space. I like things out of my sight. So I have these two glass cabinets, the big cupboard here, and then the dry sink back here, where everything is organized and put away out of sight. Use the wall space if you have a smaller space.

Keeping yourself and your office organized isn’t difficult after you create systems that you stick to. Following these simple tips will keep your office running smoothly, enable you to accomplish more, and help you feel less stressed.

If you are struggling with organization and clutter, it usually is a sign of something going on up here. You need to learn how to organize your mind, thoughts, and to-dos, and usually, the external physical environment becomes much easier to keep organized.

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Work Family Life Balance

One of the members of our community, Emily Lewis, asked me to talk about work-life balance in her pet sitting business. There are two main topics I want to cover.

First is when you have young children, and you’re trying to build your business, and I did a video about this last year. Here is a link to that video: https://youtu.be/302z5z1PikI

Hire a manager.

When I started having my family, having Lucy, that’s when I hired my first manager. When I hired her, I wasn’t expecting to keep her on to work for me.

I was planning to have her come for three months and cover things for me to be a new mom and enjoy my new baby. I ended up loving mothering so much, and she was doing such an amazing job that I decided to keep her on. When Lucy got a little bit older, I realized that I had all this time now because my manager was taking care of things.

She was taking care of all of the administrative tasks for me, which freed up so much of my time to focus on growing the pet sitting business. So that is why I kept her on. The year that I did hire her, I made an additional $53,000. So it was like, “Well, this is a no-brainer.”

Have a support team around you.

When you hear me talk about building your team, I’m not only just talking about building your team of pet sitters. I’m talking about your support team around you. I now have three managers and a virtual assistant that helps me with everything.

I can focus on marketing and getting new clients, and having our current clients booked more frequently. That’s where my manager onboarding system comes from.

I think it’s important. It is part of a process.

Work Family Balance

 

The manager also helps to free up your time to be a mom as well.

Have an organized household and set boundaries.

My kids are now in school. They’re at school every day until four, and then I can focus on the business. So my suggestion for when you have young children is get a support staff around you, and work when the baby sleeps, and work when your husband gets home from work. That’s what I used to do. I used to hang with my kids, and then when he got home, that’s when I would sit down and get my work done.

Now, if you’re asking about COVID, that’s a whole different ball of wax. If your kids are home, luckily, my kids are in Catholic school. So they are in school full time. They have been since September.

Last spring was not easy, and my suggestion for that is you need to be super-duper, duper organized in your household, and setting boundaries. Ensuring everything’s set up at the beginning of the day, in their specific spots. Make sure they have everything they need. Lunch is made the night before, and have space for just yourself to work in your home.

We have a system in my house when I have a smiley face on my door; they’re allowed to come in. When they have a sad face on the door, that means they are not allowed to come in. That means I’m either doing a Facebook Live, I’m recording a video, I’m on phone calls, I’m teaching. So that’s kind of how they know whether they can access the office or not.

Delegate duties to your manager.

My manager handles all phone calls, emails, scheduling, and keeping track of all of the sitters availability. My hiring manager takes care of the sitter recruiting, the sitter assessments, and the sitter onboarding. Then she manages them as well.

Sue is my main manager that does all of the face-to-face client work. I have my sitter manager and my hiring manager, Jessica. My Online Business Manager is Michael, and he runs both sides of my business, so Pet Nanny and Pet Nanny Coach. He helps with all tech and marketing stuff and organizing all the projects that we’re working on in my pet sitting business.

When you get to a point in your business where you have 2,000 clients to service, that managerial role does become a full-time job and will suck up all of your time. That is when I suggest bringing on the manager and again, freeing up your time to be with your children.

I can go to any school function that they need me, all the sports events, that’s all taken care of because I am not the system in my pet sitting business. I’ve created a business that’s a machine that runs without me because of the amazing support system and the systems that I have put into place. So I can run the business.

Create a miraculous working routine.

So you want to make sure you’re getting up, and you’re doing something positive for your mind. Whether that’s listening to a positive podcast, reading something positive, doing yoga, exercising, something where you are starting your day off on the right foot. Mine includes Peloton and meditation.

Get up and get dressed.

During COVID, people were just kind of lounging around in their sweat pants, and it’s not good for motivation. So get up, get dressed, put a little makeup on, do your hair, and that’s going to help with the motivation.

Have a designated workspace.

So everybody in my home knows that when this door’s closed, a sad face is on the door, that mommy is working, and I’m not to be interrupted until I come out and give them the A-okay.

Now, if they’re very little, obviously that’s going to be different, but my kids are a little older now. So that’s a system that works for us.

Plan weekly.

You want to make sure that you’re doing your weekly planning on Sundays. We call it the see it through strategy where you’re taking everything out of your mind, put it onto paper, and put it onto your calendar so that you know exactly what you’re working on every day.

Then on Friday, you’re going to do the Finish Up Friday hour where you’re going to go through and see all the tasks you had on your calendar to see what wasn’t completed. Then you’re going to put that on the following week’s calendar.

Define boundaries with family and friends.

I used to talk on the phone all the time with my friends during the day. I don’t answer it anymore. I don’t answer text messages until the day is over. I’m taking care of my family and building a business, and now they know that I’m not available to chat about the Real Housewives during workdays.

Meal prep.

I try to plan my meals every week. I use an app called Plan To Eat, which I love. I put the recipes in for the week. It creates a shopping list. Billy does all the food shopping. He has the app, and he knows exactly what we need to buy at the store because I have everything planned for the week. I try to do as much prep work at the beginning of the week.

Chopping the onions or making the ziti, or today I’m making shepherd’s pie. I try to do as much as I can at the beginning of the week.

Design an end of day routine.

When you have a family, you want to turn off your computer, turn off your phone and be present with them. I have a whole routine that I’m shutting down for the day, and then I’m with the family, and that’s it.

Again, that’s from having that support team. You’re not on-call 24/7. Having a pet sitting business for years, I was on-call seven days a week, 365 days a year, and that’s not the way a business is supposed to be. It’s supposed to add to your life, and you need to create these support systems around you so that you can shut it down at the end of the day and be with your family.

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