Time and Management: Saving a Wage Could Cost You a Fortune!

Is time management a hot topic for you? Whenever I talk to business owners they have two main concerns, making more money and attempting to work less hours in a week.

In other words getting from 80-100 hrs a week to something like 60-70 hrs/wk. As a business owner, the idea of a 40 hr work week or a business that works without me the owner is someone’s idea of a joke.

In one of our surveys we did with business owners we asked the question, How long would your business last if you were not there (eg. You were hit by a bus and in a coma in the hospital). Everyone laughs at the question.

Many times the owner of a small business ends up doing everything. So they end up working IN the business instead of ON the business. So how do we get business owners working hard on smart things insteading of working hard or thinking about how to work smart?

My #1 time management priority everyday in my business– if it doesn’t add money to the bottom line, I don’t work on it.  No money coming in, no point in making a pretty spreadsheet or spending countless hours in a meeting with an undefined purpose.

The The key time management tool for an owner is to figure out what he is worth an hour. That will determine what a business owner should be working on.

For example:

Let’s say your business brings in annual revenue of $750,000. Now you have to figure out what you are worth an hour. Since you are the owner you are the rainmaker, the person who makes things happen. The buck stops with you.

So, if you were working a normal week, and I know you aren’t. Let’s say it’s 40 hrs and you work 49 weeks. Your total hours per year are 49 x 40 = 1,960 hrs. So $750,000/1960 = $383/hr (rounded up).

That means you as the owner is worth $383/hr. So if what you are working on isn’t worth $383/hr; stop it!

Real life example — you are working late each night catching up on paperwork and doing the book keeping and you spend 30% of the week doing it. So that means it is costing you and your business over $18,000/m because you are doing those admin tasks. If you hired someone to do it and pay them $20/hr that means the cost of the person is $960. So if you hired the person and then spent that 30% generating an additional $18,000 less their $960 you are making $17,040. So stop saving a wage it could be costing you a fortune!

To your success and the success of our communities in Canada,

Greg K.

Guest Blogger- Padgett Business Services Edmonton

I”d like to welcome Bob Costall and his team at www.padgettedmonton.ca for writing this guest blog for us!

Employment Insurance Benefits for Self-Employed People

Beginning in January 2011, self-employed Canadians will be able to voluntarily access Employment Insurance (EI) special benefits. There are four types of EI special benefits:

· Maternity benefits (15 weeks maximum) available to birth mothers. It covers the periods surrounding birth. A claim can be submitted up to 8 weeks before the expected date of birth;

· Parental / adoptive benefits (35 weeks maximum) available to adoptive or biological parents while they are caring for a newly adopted or newborn child. It may be taken by either parent or shared between them;

· Sickness benefits (15 weeks maximum) which may be paid to a person who cannot work because of injury, sickness, or quarantine; and

· Compassionate care benefits (6 weeks maximum), that may be paid to persons who have to be away from work temporarily to provide support or care to a family member who is gravely ill with a significant risk of death.

You may be eligible to access the EI special benefits beginning in January 2011 if you:

· Are a self-employed person; and

· Are a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada; and

· Have voluntarily entered into an agreement with the Canada Employment Insurance Commission through Service Canada.

Self-employed Canadians will be required to voluntary opt into the Program at least one year prior to claiming benefits. They will make premium payments beginning in the tax year in which they enrolled in the EI Program. The program had a start date of January 1, 2010. Claims could be made beginning January 1, 2011.

Self-employed individuals need to have earned a minimum of $6,000 in self-employed earnings during the previous year to access the EI special benefits.

Self-employed persons can opt out of the EI Program at the end of any tax year, provided they have never claimed any benefits. If a claim for benefits was made they have to continue to contribute to the EI Program on their self-employed earnings for as long as they are self-employed.

Self-employed Canadians that opt into the EI Program will pay the same EI premium as salaried employees (maximum of $747 in 2010). She or he will not be required to pay the employer’s portion of the EI premiums.

Self-employed residents of Quebec continue to receive maternity and paternal payments under the Quebec Parental Insurance Program. Self-employed Quebec residents could also choose to apply for the federal program mentioned above.