Making sure my ebiz doesn’t turn into a full time job
December 13th, 2007 by KenricI’m typing this post at 11:27pm, if I get an order as I type, I’m tempted to check and see what it is and process it right away. This is part of the get it done mentality and it is not efficient. I know that processing a new order at 11:27pm is exactly the same as processing it at 9am tomorrow. I know that there is nobody at the dropshippers to see it come through. So why do I do it? It’s because I’m used to just getting things done as they come in.
As mentioned in Four Hour Work Week, what I really need to do is set up time periods to complete these tasks. So from now on, I don’t work on my ebiz processing orders after 6pm. Any orders that come after 6pm are answered at 9am the next morning. However, for email inquiries I feel compelled to answer them ASAP because it may mean the difference to getting that order. But I do want to change that habit also.
Here is what I’m going to try to do.
- I will process orders at 9am and 3pm only
- I will answer email inquiries once an hour until Christmas
- I will return phone calls once an hour until Christmas
I’ll see how this works. This schedule is only if I’m not busy. This schedule is so that when I’m at home, this business doesn’t rule over my time. I’m golfing tomorrow at 11am so I don’t expect to be returning any calls or emails, or processing orders until I get home at 5pm. Once I get home, I’ll set aside a half hour to do everything I have to do and then I’ll close the business for the day as if it were a brick and mortar store.
Posted in Ebiz1 | 
Stumble it!
I also think there’s a part of you that’s excited about getting orders and processing. That’s alright.
But I agree you need to limit the time you spend staring at emails. This will free you up to get other projects off the ground.
By Clifford on Dec 13, 2007
In my view, anytime you start a business, you should devote most of your time to it. If I were doing this, I would be studying it constantly, trying to learn the processes and understand my customers’ actions. I would be looking constantly for ways to improve the business operation.
You want a properly operating site that ranks tops with the customers before you let go. For example, you found the order snag and the drop ship problems by being on top of things. Only when I was comfortable that things were running smoothly and the sales volume was adequate and predictable would I back off.
By Another Investor on Dec 13, 2007
AI, I completely agree with you. I am spending alot of time trying to improve it and beat the competition. It’s the little things that don’t improve anything that keep my occupied that I need to stop doing. It’s that looking busy vs being busy mentality.
By Kenric on Dec 13, 2007
Are there not things you can do to automate a certain amount of this? Surely some of your order processing system can be automated to limit the amount of time you need to invest in that?
The other thing I would suggest, is set up an autoresponce to incoming orders & enquires. Write it in a nice friendly manner, letting the person know their email has been received. Let them know you will respond within 24 hours, and then get into the habbit of checking email only once or twice a day.
The other thing you could do (from 4 hour work week) is outsource some of the more manual processes - I wonder if you can’t automate some of your ordering, if you can hire a student, or outsource to someone else who can do that for you?
By Mr K on Jan 19, 2008