There are a lot of tasks in business that you will end up repeating over and over again for different clients. If you’re smart about it, you can set up templates which allow you to simply tweak the relevant information and easily save a whole load of time for these repetitive things. Here are some examples of where you can do so…
Invoices
It doesn’t matter who you are invoicing, or how much for, there are some parts of an invoice that will always be the same – for example, your details, and your payment terms. By utilising a pre-made template (see this invoice maker), you will make this a simple job that only requires you to add in the details of the company you are invoicing and what goods or services it is that you are invoicing for. This means your invoices will be standardised with a professional look, as well as being much easier to complete.
This being said, some invoices can be more complicated. Applying tax or discounts correctly can be tricky, and things can get even more confusing when a client is entitled to free services. If you’re trying to complete NDIS invoicing, for example, you need to be aware of what each client is entitled to. Luckily, software is available to make invoicing much easier, with much of the work done automatically for you.
Contracts
Similarly, with contracts, it can be costly and time-consuming to set up a new contract for each client, so it can be a good idea to have contracts drawn up for your different services that just need a few tweaks before sending them out to new clients. This means you can onboard new clients easily and start work sooner.
Design
If you’re not a designer yourself or don’t have one in-house, you could outsource an agency or freelancer to create some templates in your branding, meaning you only have to swap out images or text.
Alternatively, you can use something like Canva which has inbuilt templates for everything from social media posts to brochures and posters, already set to the right size and resolution. Both of these options will save you money in the long run and mean that if you suddenly need an image for Facebook to advertise a flash sale, you don’t have to wait for someone to complete a brief for you.
Emails
There will likely be some emails you send out time and time again – it helps to take some time to get these written out in a way you’re really happy with and then you can save it as a template that you can utilise multiple times going forward.
This might be to answer FAQs that come in from customers, about opening times and costs for example, or you may want to set up a ‘Welcome’ email that can be used when you onboard a new client, explaining who everyone is, how to contact you, and other important information. Just be sure to fill in any personalised sections before you send it out to a client, or it won’t look very professional.
Setting templates up does take time, however, once you have perfected these and they are just the way you want them, it seems silly to do them from scratch every time. In the long run, you will be saving yourself a whole load of time, stress and money
.
