WAHM: How to Handle Multiple Clients

First off, if you need to ask yourself how you can possibly handle multiple clients, congratulations! You’re on your way to a successful business. That business will not be a success, however, if you can't juggle those multiple clients. Thankfully, there is a somewhat simple solution: time management. Let's check out how you can manage your time (and those multiple clients!).

Prioritize

The first task to time management is to prioritize. Now I’ve read a lot of different takes on this subject, and each is important. But one of the most important priorities is your clients. All of your clients.

This means: No client is more important than the next. As soon as you start to look at each one as a different level on a priority scale, you could find yourself pushing "lower-priority" orders back farther and farther on your calendar. One day you may just forget about them altogether, which usually results in a very displeased client (and a lot of groveling on your part). Instead, treating all clients with top priority is ideal.

Another important priority is your time. If you’re at the beginning stages of your business, you may still be stressing about your website design, blog topics or even your business stationary. If you have clients, it may be best to put aside all of those administrative tasks until the last part of the day. They are time zappers and can be handled after your paid work is complete.

However, that being said, you can’t just ignore the fact that bookkeeping and other administrative tasks must be completed (usually every day). So you’re going to need to create a schedule.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Time management skills are a must if you plan on working at home, especially if you have kids. If at all possible, make a set schedule.

• Decide your office hours: Decide how many hours in the day you are able and willing (the second is extremely important) to work.
• Schedule out your day: Make a list of your clients and estimate how much time you can allot to each one of them. (I like two hour blocks because that generally leaves me with extra time to take on some short-term clients.)
• Record your hours: Devise a way of keeping track of your time that is simple, handy and easy to export into a record-keeping software.

Record-Keeping Software

My personal favorite in record-keeping software was Sage ACT! 2010 until just recently (when it decided it doesn’t want to play nice anymore). It does take a little time to set up, but once you get going, it’s a priceless time management software.

If you don’t want anything that complex, then check out the myWorkTime app for your iPad or iPhone. You can set up multiple clients, each with their own projects and tasks. When you start a new task, you simply hit “Start” to keep track of your time on each project until you hit “Stop.” It’s a fantastic tool.

Be The Businessperson You Want to Be

One of the best ways to handle multiple clients is to act like a completely seasoned professional. The only one who should know you're fumbling through it all by the skin of your teeth is you. So act like you want them to think you are; be that excellent, professional businessperson, and you’ll be miles ahead of the game.

Like I said earlier, if you’re beginning to ask yourself how to handle multiple clients, you’re on the right path to success. Prioritize, schedule and use time-managment tools to be the businessperson you want to be. Keep cruising along and remember to enjoy every step of the journey along the way.

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