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If you’re like me I’m always searching for a good Ted Talk to either gain inspiration or learn something new. I came across this list  of 7 Ted Talks that will increase your productivity from Your Side Hustle Success.

I’m normally a pretty productive person but there are times when I am tired or I am not balancing work and life.

Check out the TED Talks below. I hope you find them inspiring.


  1. Arianna Huffington – How to Succeed? Get More Sleep
  1. Jason Fried – Why work doesn’t happen at work
  1. Paolo Cardini – Forget multi-tasking, try monotasking
  1. Shawn Achor – The Happy Secret to Better Work
  1. Simon Sinek – How great leaders inspire action
  1. Angela Lee Duckworth – Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
  1. Nigel Marsh – How to Make Work/Life Balance Work

What keeps you from being productive?

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Every business owner strives for more automation in their business to increase performance and reduce overall costs.  Manual processes can be very inefficient. A few years ago I worked with a client who was printing off hundreds of invoices and scanning them back into their system. This was their current process and they didn’t know of a more efficient way to do things. This slight shift ended up saving the company tremendous amounts of time and money. 

As a small business owner, you wear many hats which can feel overwhelming and lead to exhaustion which can decrease the productivity and enjoyment of the company you have worked so hard to build.  Manual processes hinder small businesses from scaling and turning larger profits. It is so important to cut costs where you can.

Here are 5 key areas where you can start automating processes in your company to free up your time, your employee’s time and yield great returns.

  1. Copy and Pasting Data Items between multiple software platforms

Employees spend a good amount of their workweek doing manual data tasks like copy and pasting information from multiple pieces of technology together. I see this happen all the time, it’s a time-consuming task that can be highly susceptible to error. For example, The client was copying customer data (email, address, contact name, etc) from one software to another. This was leading to errors. There are programs like Zapier for instance that allows you to automate tasks. You can have someone sign up for your newsletter for example and have that data “zapped” into a CRM.  A new client signs up? Set Zapier to “zap” their information into your accounting software. You can set up a zap for nearly any task you’d like to automate.

2. Sales  

Using marketing automation platforms or email clients like Mailchimp or CRM tools like Hubspot allows you to take the most interested clients and continuously keep in touch with them. You can use these platforms to send out emails and some even allow you to send text messages through their platforms to your clients to keep your business top of mind.

3. Reporting

This is one of the biggest areas of opportunity for a business to have automation. If you aren’t on an ERP system or using a very antiquated system, reporting can be a time This is one of the biggest areas of opportunity for a business to automate. If you aren’t on an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system or you are using a very antiquated system, reporting can be a time consuming task due to data manipulation ERP software is used to manage day-day business activities throughout an organization (accounting, compliance, supply chain, manufacturing, shipping/receiving, budging, etc.  I’ve seen multi-million dollar companies use spreadsheets for reporting and run into inaccuracies with data or the document losing data. Eventually, you will have to move to an ERP system to further help with accurate reporting, reduce data duplication, and have a single source of truth.

4. Inventory Management

Automating the ability to see inventory on hand at all times, what is in production, and Automating the ability to see inventory on hand at all times, what is in production, and what has shipped out allows a business to scale and decrease counting errors.  Errors are especially problematic when attempting to manually track inventory on a spreadsheet. The best way to see inventory on-hand and any movement is having either a full ERP system or at least an inventory management software in place like Fishbowl. These software’s, will allow the business to set up various inventory workflows with automation and allow full transparency to see what inventory is on-hand, where it’s stored, and what work is in progress (WIP).

5. Invoices/Payments

In 2019, Forbes did a study that showed 69% of small business owners are kept up at night with concerns about cash flow. Automating your accounting system can be relatively easy. If you are using QuickBooks you can set up invoices to be emailed with a link for a customer/client to pay with their credit card. If you are sending invoices out manually you can have companies set up to have a credit card on file or pay via ACH so you aren’t waiting for a check to come in the mail.

 The key to increasing revenue and reducing costs throughout your business is automation!

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We all have those moments in our lives, the ones where we look back with regret and think  “If I had just said yes to…” or “if I had taken that leap, maybe things would be different.” 

Oftentimes fear and practicality are the loudest voices we encounter when taking a risk. We talk ourselves out of taking chances, or we convince ourselves that there will be more opportunities in the future, and that we will have more time, but what if we don’t?? 

Lately I have found myself thinking, “What if I had been more brave?”  Have I hidden behind indecision and a laundry list of things I have to do before I can move forward. Am I holding myself back?

I stumbled across a video the other day by Don Crowther. He shared an experience about a missed opportunity he had in high school, and it made me think about various times in my life I have missed out on things that I wish I could go back and fix.

Don shared that, “Too often we pass up an opportunity because it doesn’t look as appealing as the opportunity before us.”

What opportunity are you missing now?

Many people believe there is this one great opportunity. If they don’t take the chance or mess up the opportunity, oftentimes regret shows up. 

Regret has a hundred different faces. The words we use to remind ourselves what we should’ve done or said. The downward spiral of “what-if?” thoughts. The hopelessness that another opportunity will never come again. 

When looking at your own life or your business, what is something you let pass you by? 

We have a lot of choices presented to us. Make sure you are taking advantage of what crosses your path.

Thomas Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

I’m not sharing all of this with you to tell you that I have found some sort of magical solution for regret. I am here to remind you that yes, sometimes we make mistakes and miss opportunities, but remember this, there are always more risks to take and ways to grow.

You are not defined by your mistakes. I think it is most important that we learn from our errors and allow them to fuel us moving forward so that we do not live lives full of missed opportunities. 

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Working as an accountant for many years really opened my eyes to see the need for educating business owners about finance. What I have seen is small business owners fail to keep personal and business expenses separate. When it comes to the monthly reconciliation of the finances it was a mess! Here are a few things I have seen over the years that I’d love to share so you can keep your finances in order.

SEPARATION – As I mentioned above a lot of small business owners tend to mix personal and business income and expenses. Make sure you have separate bank accounts, debit cards, credit cards, and merchant service accounts like Paypal, Square, etc. If business and personal aren’t kept separate it creates a mess during tax time. It also doesn’t provide a clear picture of how your business is doing.

SALARY – Not paying yourself a market-based wage means the net income of your business is lying to you. As Greg Crabtree says, “Until you pay yourself a market-based wage and plug that number into your financials, your financial data is worthless.” Make sure you are paying yourself a realistic wage so your financials reflect correctly how much your businesses are making.

FOCUS ON GROSS PROFIT – Your gross profit matters most because it shows whether your sales are sufficient to cover your costs.

SPENDING – Make sure you have budgets in place so overspending doesn’t happen. You need to know at all times where money is being spent. I recommend creating a spreadsheet or using accounting software like QuickBooks to track this. When making a large purchase ask yourself if will add value to the business. If it doesn’t consider why you are making the purchase.

Make sure to create a budget and track your expenses. If you have a system in place, congratulations! If you don’t have a general understanding of finance it can create difficulties down the road.

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Great bookkeepers are hard to find, and when you find one, you should never let them go. They are a vital part of your business. So, how do you know you have a great bookkeeper?

1. They ask questions and do their homework.

A bookkeeper who is trusted and vested in your company will ask questions instead of simply guessing what is going on. Business strategies and technology are always changing. Sometimes more quickly than we’d like them to. Your bookkeeper should be keeping up with the new changes and know when is the best time to implement them. They should be creating processes that make it easier to work with them. 

2. They understand your systems and processes.

Your bookkeeper should know how your business operates from every facet. The more he/she understands, the better they can help determine possible solutions and help you continually streamline your business. They are always seeking to understand how your numbers are impacted by your systems.

3. They can grow with you.

Hiring a bookkeeper isn’t easy, but looking for one that can grow with your company over time is very important. They should stay abreast of relevant accounting software and other new technologies that are transforming the way small businesses are running. 

Do you have a great bookkeeper?

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