It’s just one of those simple, indispensable things—a list. Whether you are the type of person who likes to use them, or not, the items you put on these lists might end up saving you a huge amount of time and headache.
1. Professional Contacts
If you don’t already, you should always have a dedicated list that contains complete information for all of your business contacts, and not just on your smartphone.
We all depend on our phones for a lot of information these days, but you should consider keeping a separate, additional list—or at least back up your phone contacts in the Cloud.
That way you won’t be lost, if something happens to your phone. Murphy’s Law pretty much guarantees that something will happen to your phone.
2. Alternate Suppliers/Vendors
If you’re running a business that requires operating materials & supplies, then it’s a good idea to prepare yourself, just in case your current supply is cut off.
You definitely don’t want to be caught with your pants down, so do yourself a favor and compile a list of alternate suppliers that you can turn to in your time of need.
3. Quality Temporary Employment Agencies
One thing we’re all guilty of is believing that nothing will ever go wrong. Even for those of us who plan for every contingency—deep down, we are sure that we’ll always come out ahead.
It’s called positive expectation bias (a.k.a. the Gambler’s Fallacy), the cognitive bias we all have, that causes us to falsely believe that we will experience the best outcome. So, having said that, keep a list of temp agencies because you never know when you might need some extra staff to fill in.
4. Daily Task List
Can you imagine keeping a daily list of tasks and crossing off every item, by the end of the day? If that sounds obsessive and uptight to you, then just consider the benefits: When the day starts to get away from you, you can refer to your task list to rein it back in.
You may be one of those people who can keep everything perfectly straight in your head, but if you’re like the rest of us, a daily task schedule is a highly underrated tool to help you stay organized.
5. Your Competitors
Know who your competing businesses are because you stand to gain a lot from them. Remember this about your competition: They are not your competitors; they are your business’ competitors.
Keep your enemies close because not only can you learn from them, but their very existence is a sign that there’s a strong market for your product. To learn more about the benefits of having competition, check out this bonus article:
https://talkroute.com/your-competitors-are-not-the-enemy-they-are-your-friends/
6. Goals for Your Business
To avoid getting stuck in a rut, always keep your plans for the future in front of you. From a practical standpoint, it’s important to keep your goal in focus so that you can make sure you are taking the necessary steps to get to your next phase.
From a personal standpoint, it just helps you to stay optimistic when you clearly state where you see yourself in 1, 5, or even 10 years. See yourself getting there.
Stephanie
Stephanie is the Marketing Director at Talkroute and has been featured in Forbes, Inc, and Entrepreneur as a leading authority on business and telecommunications.
Stephanie is also the chief editor and contributing author for the Talkroute blog helping more than 100k entrepreneurs to start, run, and grow their businesses.