The days are getting longer, flowers are in bloom and moods are elevated. Spring—the season of rejuvenation, new beginnings and fresh starts—is here. For some, the season brings an itch to do away with the old and welcome the new. In other words, it’s time for spring cleaning.
For the 1.14 million small businesses in Canada, this is the perfect time to organize your office, your inbox, your finances and more. Read these spring cleaning and office organization tips to kick the season off right.
Spring cleaning and office organization tips
Organize your workspace
Did you know that clutter is one of the largest obstacles to productivity at work? Studies show the average employee spends the equivalent of week per year looking for misplaced items. Gartner® priced this wasted time at $4,800 per employee per year. Avoid this costly mistake by organizing your office. Scrub your email inbox—and make it a point to do so weekly to stay on top of emails. Get rid of paper. Trade in your filing cabinets for cloud storage and USB drives. Keep power cords organized and within reach by using a desktop cable manager. And thanks to desk organizers, there’s a place for everything, and everything has its place!
Tidy up the office
Remove the cobwebs in your office and you may end up clearing the proverbial ones in your head, too. Workplace messes can leave staff feeling overwhelmed and anxious.Use a cleaning service to provide a deep clean. Or recruit office volunteers for an hour or two after work to do some office-space organization and spring cleaning. Provide volunteers with a logo’d computer duster and gadget stand with cleaning cloth as a thank you for the help.
Brush up your business plan
If you don’t already have a business plan, now’s the time to create one. If you have one in place, make it a point to revisit it in spring. Does your plan need any updates to reflect shifts in goals or objectives? Are your business needs the same?And although your overarching vision is likely unchanged, does your path to getting there need to be adjusted?
Freshen up your finances
Entrepreneur® contributor and Wells Fargo Executive Vice President Lisa Stevens says spring is the right time of year for small business owners to get organized financially. Open a separate bank account to ensure you’re prepared when tax time comes; begin doing weekly cash flow checks to make sure your business stays in the green; and schedule a meeting with your banker or financial advisor for a spring check-up.