I’m writing this months edition of the newsletter on a flight home from the Gold Coast. I have spent a lovely week on the Gold Coast with my brother and his family. Mixing in a bit of relax, work and play time with my niece & nephew.

As the year draws to an end (well the financial year anyway) I find my self reflecting on what a year I’ve had.

This time last year I was one very stressed out business owner. I remember a weekend in May last year, my family came to visit and instead of spending time with them, I worked all weekend. I had so much to do in preparation for the end of financial year and not enough time or resources to do it. The thought of a working week away would have been laughable. During this time of stress, I made a conscious decision to never put myself in this position again. So I worked hard to streamline our processes, adding efficiency apps and recruiting talented colleagues.

Twelve months on and my business is in a much more stable position. I have been able to spend the year working on developing the business, adding new service offerings, setting up our new office, training up the team and I am thankful I now have a much better work life balance. We are prepped and ready to go for a good EOFY period.

I’m sharing this because I feel as business owners (especially solo ones) we often get caught up in the day to day busy-ness and don’t spend enough working ON the business.

I have learned a lot over the last year and by introducing a number of wonderful efficiency apps to help with scheduling, project management, communication and task management, I have created so much extra time for myself and my staff. These apps are not just for number crunchers, they are great for anyone managing clients, customers and a team.

I would love to chat more to you if you relate more with “12 months ago Jo” than the one typing this newsletter sipping a Chardonnay in Business Class!

- Jo