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1.0crowdspring Bloghttps://www.crowdspring.com/blogRoss Kimbarovskyhttps://www.crowdspring.com/blog/author/ross/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="hvbFHzuCO5"><a href="https://www.crowdspring.com/blog/5-things-your-small-business-should-do-today-to-increase-profits/">5 Things Your Small Business Should Do Today To Increase Profits</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.crowdspring.com/blog/5-things-your-small-business-should-do-today-to-increase-profits/embed/#?secret=hvbFHzuCO5" width="600" height="338" title="“5 Things Your Small Business Should Do Today To Increase Profits” — crowdspring Blog" data-secret="hvbFHzuCO5" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); //# sourceURL=https://www.crowdspring.com/blog/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js /* ]]> */ </script> https://images.crowdspring.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/27132049/wastedtime-1.jpg350350I never fully understood the challenges of operating a small business until co-founding crowdSPRING. There’s a lot to do, but so little time to accomplish everything. Here are five practical tips from my own experience with crowdSPRING that you can implement today to increase sales and profits for your small business: 1. Evaluate What’s Working And What Isn’t. Wasted time could be a small business owner’s worst enemy. Your time is limited, but you have much to accomplish daily. It’s OK to have occasional unproductive days, but most successful small businesses figure out what works and doesn’t – and focus on the things that work for them. For example, it’s entirely possible that a huge amount of your effort is spent on daily activities that aren’t contributing to building your brand, your sales/profits or accomplishing the other meaningful goals you’ve set for your business. Some small business owners are so protective of their accounting, for example, that they’ll resist the need to bring in a part-time accountant to help them to maintain their financial records. While this appears prudent – after all, you’re saving the cost of paying a part-time accountant – such decisions are very short-sighted for many businesses. If you’re running a solo business, you could be focused on sales during the hours you devote to accounting. Or you can work to improve your product or service. How You Can Start Today: Start by listing on a sheet of paper – or in an electronic document – all the tasks you do regularly (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly).  Do your best to break these tasks into logical areas, such as sales, accounting, marketing, inventory, etc. Second, assign times to each task. How long does it take you to pay your bills every week/month? If you have to maintain inventory, how long does it take to review your inventory and order replacement? Do this for each task to begin understanding the time you spend on each activity. Third, assess whether each activity is important. You’d be surprised how many things we all do during a normal day that add little value to our business. Once you understand the importance of each activity, rank the activities (or logical areas) to understand better where YOU should be focusing. If you’re like me, you’ll find plenty of activities that are only modestly important – but those activities sometimes take the most amount of time to accomplish. Determine whether those activities are sufficiently important to continue – or whether you need someone else (part-time or full-time) to help you. We all have areas in which we excel. And we all have areas in which we don’t. Focus on the areas where you bring the most value to your business and find the right people to fill the gaps in areas you don’t. If you focus on the things that work, you’ll be more efficient and productive and see a meaningful impact on your bottom line. image credit: wpwend42 2. Experiment With Hyper-Local Advertising on..