OK, it’s not the sexiest headline in the world but stick with me. If you run a business, even a small one where you’re the only person in it, you need to be using templates. If you’re not you’re almost certainly wasting huge amounts of time and energy every time you onboard a new client or send out quotes or invoices, not to mention creating all the other documents that businesses need on a regular basis.
Creating templates is a key thing that I undertake for lots of my clients and it benefits them hugely.
Here’s why…
Creating templates is a key thing that I undertake for lots of my clients and it benefits them hugely.
Here’s why…
The benefits of using templates in your business can be summed up in a few bullet points.
Setting up a new document, deciding on the layout, the colour scheme, and the basic text – this all takes time. For most standard business documents this can take more time than actually putting the content into the document, not to mention how many hours are wasted recreating text that has been used before. Even if you’re copying and pasting from previous iterations this still takes you time that is better spent elsewhere.
There are 6 key areas where using templates can be incredibly beneficial to your business:
By spending a few hours setting up templates for each of these areas you can save masses of time in the long run.
The golden rule – never try to ‘save time’ by overwriting existing documents that you have created for other clients. You risk saving over your earlier work, leaving the previous client’s information on the document and not including everything you need for the new client. Always start with a blank document, preferably saved as a template – these are saved with the suffix .docx in Word and .xlsx in Excel (for tips on how to create email templates in Outlook click here). It’s far too easy to accidentally overwrite the template itself if it’s set up as a standard document.
A VA is a great resource if you feel you haven’t got the time or knowledge to set up your own templates. We can very quickly create a pack that contains all the basics for your business with your branding, to provide consistency across all the documents you send out to clients.
If you’re not already using templates in your business and are interested in finding out how a VA could help to set this up why not get in touch to find out about my new templates package?
- They save you time
- They provide consistency
- They promote your brand
- They look professional
- But mostly, they save you time
Setting up a new document, deciding on the layout, the colour scheme, and the basic text – this all takes time. For most standard business documents this can take more time than actually putting the content into the document, not to mention how many hours are wasted recreating text that has been used before. Even if you’re copying and pasting from previous iterations this still takes you time that is better spent elsewhere.
There are 6 key areas where using templates can be incredibly beneficial to your business:
- client onboarding – welcome email/letter, service agreement, new starter form
- quotes and invoices
- policies and procedures
- business letterhead
- emails – especially if your business offers a service that has set stages for the client to go through (e.g. a coaching programme or website building)
- presentations
By spending a few hours setting up templates for each of these areas you can save masses of time in the long run.
The golden rule – never try to ‘save time’ by overwriting existing documents that you have created for other clients. You risk saving over your earlier work, leaving the previous client’s information on the document and not including everything you need for the new client. Always start with a blank document, preferably saved as a template – these are saved with the suffix .docx in Word and .xlsx in Excel (for tips on how to create email templates in Outlook click here). It’s far too easy to accidentally overwrite the template itself if it’s set up as a standard document.
A VA is a great resource if you feel you haven’t got the time or knowledge to set up your own templates. We can very quickly create a pack that contains all the basics for your business with your branding, to provide consistency across all the documents you send out to clients.
If you’re not already using templates in your business and are interested in finding out how a VA could help to set this up why not get in touch to find out about my new templates package?
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