In honour of Big May, jugaad – our theme for the month:

As a small business, we are faced with demands to squeeze the last drop out of our resources. It goes down from our clients to our team and our supply chain. And then there are all the external factors – rising cost of living, war zones, Brexit, etc etc.

It’s tough. We wish we had the luxury of time – and an unlimited source of money, so we can “live large”! I always joke about spreading the mattress with cash and jumping up and down. Cute, silly, pointless.

But then, part of the fun in business is being challenged, right?

Enter Jugaad.

When I found out about the concept of “Jugaad” I thought “that’s it!”. It came because I was researching the concept of “Do More With Less” which is our theme for “Big May”.

I love that we can think differently, and find creative solutions to get our work done.

Jugaad is a Hindu word, refers to the art of improvisation and making do with what you have. I’ve listed some tips below and I have to admit, I need to practice more of these in my own life! But that’s the theme of Big May – we can do more and have more by doing less and working smarter! So, let’s apply some of these and more!

Here are some tips for applying “jugaad” to your business:

• The Power of Templates: Creating templates for common documents and emails can save you a lot of time in the long run. Consider creating templates for proposals, invoices, and even social media posts. By having these templates pre-made, you can easily customise them to fit your needs and save time on formatting and writing.
• Leveraging AI: We’ve been experimenting, and this takes time. But once we learn these tools, we are definitely producing more, faster. For example, we are playing with Canva’s Text to Image feature. As we get used to what images look right for our taste, we can do more of that!
• Batching Tasks: Batching similar tasks together can help you save time and increase productivity. For example, instead of checking your email throughout the day, set aside specific times to check and respond to emails.
• Outsourcing: Outsourcing certain tasks can be a cost-effective way to get more done with less. We ourselves need to do more of this. Anything that is repetitive can be taught to someone else. And once they learn they can do this for you over and over. This leaves you to tap into your genius and do what only you can!
• The Power of Saying No: Saying no can be a powerful tool in business. Similar to the above. Focus on your “core competencies”. Say no to projects or tasks that don’t align with your goals, this will ensure that you’re using your time and resources in the most effective way possible.
• The 80:20 Rule: The rule states that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. By identifying the 20% of tasks that will have the biggest impact on your productivity, you can focus your time and energy on these tasks and achieve better results with less effort. This means that you don’t have to do it all. Rather you will prioritise the tasks that will have the biggest impact on your goals. By doing this, you can achieve more in less time and with less effort.

I actually asked the audience and you can see all the tips people added on this link, and below:

Celebrate Big May by doing more with less! If you want help to set any of these types of systems up, we’ve been perfecting them and are ready to “teach and learn” – show you what we’ve done, and you can show us anything you have discovered.