One of the hardest things we deal with as a two man small business is time management. Especially since the recent purchase of our new CNC plasma table, with the goal of growing the business, our time is split between many things. Learning a new system, a new way of doing what you've done for over twenty years can be daunting and many things will sadly be neglected in that ongoing process. For my father and I, especially me, it has been keeping up with many responsibilities in regards to the website and social media.

We have recently hired someone to take-on the marketing aspects of the business, but that also requires attention on a daily basis. With more traffic to the website and orders coming through the door, there is more that must be done to be available for our customers. We want to make sure that our customers are finding us online and that we accommodate them, no matter how small the order. Therefore dialing in our search results to make sure keywords etc. are up to date is on my mind constantly, creating more work and time to make sure things are running smooth.

Keeping up with Twitter and Google+ have become a challenge because of the extra work established by our new machinery. I have neglected much of these responsibilities for over a month, which does not help people engage you looking for your services. It's called social media for a specific reason....social reasons. Organizing myself down the road will help me to make sure I am on top of everything. At this point we can't afford to pay for more help, so it falls on my father and I to get things done.

No one said building a business was easy and I am learning quickly that time management will become one of the best things I can learn going forward. No matter how small your company is, look into time management and how it can help you balance your time and goals.