As a small business owner, it’s very likely that you are often working on multiple client projects simultaneously. After all, we need multiple clients to stay afloat and we all like to have our money coming from different places.
This begs the question – how can small business owners stay on top of multiple client projects? How are they able to juggle so much? Especially if they have different service offerings.
Take me as an example. I have content marketing clients, clients I do influencer work for, private coaching clients ,and clients in a group program. That’s four different services and each service has multiple clients.
I often get asked how I manage to do it all, so in this post, I’m answering.
Be obsessed with what you do.
I’m not going to lie, part of the reason I can juggle multiple client projects is because I absolutely love what I do. I created the career I have always wanted for myself – even before being a blogger, thought leader or influencer was a thing.
In my coaching practice, I find that when people are in alignment and actually love their work, that they are more able to manage all the responsibilities that come with it.
Your first step, therefore, becomes to design a business that you actually enjoy. Often times business owners don’t even like what they do, and that tanks their productivity.
Hire team members.
The other thing that helps me tremendously in managing multiple client projects is outsourcing. For example, let’s say I’m working on a campaign as an influencer. This usually requires a few moving parts including written content, social media posts and graphics. I outsource the social media and graphics so I can focus on what I’m best at – the written content.
Granted, I don’t want you to think that you need to spend all of your revenue hiring team members. If you’re bootstrapping a business like I have then you’ll have to slowly hire team members over time. The important thing is that you start somewhere.
Minimize distractions.
I have lots of tricks and techniques for helping me minimize distractions. Here are some examples:
- Only check email twice per day. This means my email doesn’t become a to do list.
- Say no to things that don’t get me paid or give me some sort of a return. The less busy work I take on the more I can focus on my clients.
- If I’m feeling unfocused at home, I’ll go to my coworking space up the street.
- Use a project management service instead of email to communicate with my team.
- Listen to playlists that are made for focusing.
- Get the hard stuff done first (This is just my personal preference.)
- This means I block out time to focus on projects that are similar.
The last trick I use is to remember the amount of money I’m making. While I’m not motivated by money by itself, I’ve been broke before and I’m not going back there. Remembering that helps me focus on the tasks at hand.
Final Thoughts
Managing multiple projects can be done in a way that is streamlined and organized. Much of it is just a matter of your own willpower and your ability to minimize distractions so you can focus.
Amanda Abella
Amanda is a best-selling author of "Make Money Your Honey", a book that helps freelancers and business owners understand their relationship with money and how to make it more productive. She's driven by helping others live the most productive and fruitful way possible.