Guest Blogpost by Corina Ludwig, President, FunctionFox Systems on why to try a free demo and take advantage of some sweet treats from FunctionFox – the leading timesheet and project management software for Creative professionals.
This sure has been one crazy year. Normally, the end of the year is a time when many of us step back from our daily grind to think about ways to make next year a better one with healthy eating, more exercise or changing bad habits. This year, priorities have become even more clear and we resolve to make personal changes that will improve our lives and those of our loved ones.
And for those still fortunate to have work, the creative industry demands quick reaction to emerging challenges, meeting crushing deadlines, coasting on the high of creativity, and letting the other business system stuff slide. Looking back at the end of this year, we see more clearly that we need to focus our New Year’s resolutions on revising our top priorities and the way we handle the ‘business’ of creativity.
Time is the ultimate New Business Year resolution. You need time to do your best creative work and develop ideas to their fullest, time to reflect on past projects, current and future clients, and staff productivity, time to discover new markets and technology, to get a feel for emerging trends, and to focus on better ways of doing business.
When you’re busy and revenues are up, you need to maximize profits, streamline workflow and make sure you’re capturing all your billable hours and project costs.
5 Smart ways to Stay Creative – and Save more Time:
1. Look Back to Leap Forward. One of the best gifts is to give yourself enough time for your creative process is to really understand previous projects – how long they took (vs how long you estimated), how long each phase lasted, and how much time went to each task. This lets you create more accurate and detailed estimates for similar jobs, building in time for creativity.
2. Stay Ahead of the Game. Staying agile and on top of emerging trends is key for creatives wanting to control costs and grow into a successful future. Often, though, day-to-day crises, deadlines, and administrative tasks take over. When the industry landscape changes – as we’ve this year many times – you’re left scrambling to catch up. The only way to find time to keep up is to carve time into your schedule – and account for it like any project.
3. Focus In. Somewhat surprisingly, the simple act of tracking time, and accounting for your work seems to help improve creative focus. Instead of wrestling with 5 projects at once, all swirling about in a kind of creative soup in your brain, you become better at dealing with projects one at a time. Each gets your undivided attention while you’re working on it enabling more thoughtful solutions to creative challenges.
4. Sow Accountability, Reap Trust. Proper business management — whether you’re the CEO of a large creative company, a small team of inhouse creatives, or a lone-fox-freelancer — positively affects client satisfaction. When you deliver projects on time and under budget and are accountable and transparent about the time you’ve spent and the work you’ve done, client trust, confidence and happiness grow. And happy, trusting clients are ones that come back time after time bringing lovely new creative challenges.
5. Smooth Out the Wrinkles. Poor cash flow is one of the primary causes of small business failure. Contributing to the problem are outdated, clumsy or admin-heavy time-tracking and billing procedures. When time tracking is easy for team members, and reports are instantly available to managers, fewer errors are made, and the time between completing a job and billing for it is reduced. A quicker billing cycle smooths cash flow, making more time and energy available for fun stuff.
Find time to relax this holiday season knowing your time tracking and project management needs are under control. Get accurate tracking of projects from concept to completion. FunctionFox offers an affordable way to stay on top of essential activities – one that is simple to set up, easy-to-use, and effective.
FunctionFox was originally designed by an advertising agency for their needs as a creative company. It is uniquely suited to the specific needs of this industry. Many in-house marketing groups have also discovered how FunctionFox can improve accountability and simplify project management.
This post is sponsored by FunctionFox, the leading provider of time and project tracking for small creative companies. Try a free FunctionFox demo today and make 2021 bright.
