The ‘perfect’ morning routine has been the subject of many viral videos and is an obsession for many. Yet in our experience, for busy small business owners, the morning routine can vary massively! So here are some ideas that we see working well for our clients.
Overall, we see the greatest success when business owners marry the importance of checking key business numbers with doing so first thing in the morning. Whilst this could be done at some crazy early hour, you could spread this over your early morning in your PJs or on the train, or even first thing at your desk – whatever best works for you!
Try the 3C/3G routine
This is our own Small Business Owner Morning Routine Checklist, devised with client feedback. We refer to it as the 3C/3G routine as it focuses on:
- Content
- Cash
- Customers
- Gameplan
- Growth
- Goals
1. Socials Audit (“Content”)
The reason we like this one first is you can do it in your first waking minutes before braving the shower! So if you struggle with jumping straight out of bed, this is a nice task to start your day with.
Why it’s important:
This is simply checking out your recent content and seeing how it is working for your business. By ‘content’, we mean your marketing activities such as posting on social channels such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, etc.
Understanding what channels and types of content are performing well can really help you understand where to put your efforts moving forward. So, use the channel’s own analytics and metrics to check on:
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- What worked well
- What didn’t
If one particular post did well, ask yourself “Does this best performing post have anything in common with other posts that have done well?” You can then make decisions around what you will post today, or schedule for next time.
If you aren’t posting anywhere regularly, it’s our opinion you should be! Start by checking your own activity:
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- How much did you post?
- How much did you spend on ads?
Again, this comparison helps you work out how effective your posting is, and if it can be improved.
How to track it:
Most channels have an activity ‘dashboard’ that shows all your posts and activity in one place. You might have to log in to a specific area to see this such as Meta for Business rather than Facebook.
If that is all a bit much before your first coffee of the morning, you can look at each individual posts on each of your social media channels. Your engagement stats should be under each post – how many views, likes, comments, shares etc.
2. Cash Balances (“Cash”)
Why it’s important:
Even a profitable business can collapse if it runs out of cash. Daily awareness prevents surprise shortfalls, missed payments, and builds discipline.
So, check your balances first thing in the morning, This up-to-date knowledge of where you are it can then both inform and drive your daily activities.
For example if you are short of the cash you need, you may prioritise chasing money owed or sales generating activities.
How to track it:
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- Use your business bank account app or review the balance in cloud accounting tool like Xero or QuickBooks.
- You could use a simple spreadsheet that logs daily opening/closing balance and key ins/outs for more clarity. However, you’ll need to ensure this is up to date with the latest information.
3. Number of Leads or Enquiries (“Customers”)
Why it’s important:
Sales are a ‘lagging indicator’ — leads are a ‘leading’ one. If leads slow down, it tells you sales might drop soon unless action is taken. The is particularly important if it takes a while for your prospects to turn into paying customers.
You must know how much potential business is coming in. This is key to understanding if your marketing activities are generating leads (or not!).
How to track it:
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- Use a CRM (like Pipedrive, HubSpot, etc)
or
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- Keep a manual tracker in a spreadsheet: name, date, service/product, notes etc.
Keeping a note of where those leads come from will be crucial to understanding which parts of your marketing are working.
4. Performance Against Key Targets or ‘KPIs’ (“Gameplan”)
Why it’s important:
You may have set yourself key performance indicators (KPI’s) or something more straightforward such as :
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- A project you want to progress today
- A task you want to complete this week
Spend some quiet time looking at these key numbers and milestones before the day gets going. This helps give you the clarity to start your business day knowing you are working on the right areas.
How to track it:
Tracking these could be across multiple systems. However, we find that clients who keep a simple spreadsheet or even paper record have good success reviewing and updating them, without getting too bogged down in the “how”.
5. Daily Customer Sales (“Growth”)
Why it’s important:
This one is fairly obvious – no sales, no business! Tracking and reviewing your sales daily will show if your marketing, pricing, and offer are working — or not. It keeps your focus on generating income and gaining new customers.
How to track it:
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- Use any online point of sale (POS) systems, a cloud accounting tool like Xero (heelanassociates.co.uk/xero) or QuickBooks, or even a manual logbook or spreadsheet!
- Ideally you would track by service and ‘channel’ if relevant (e.g. consultancy, retail sales, drink, food and then website, in-person, social, etc).
6. Goals and achievements (“Goals”)
Why it’s important:
Armed with all the information you’ve already gleaned this morning, it takes just a few minutes to review your overall business goals.
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- You may see that one goal has been advanced, whilst another may need your attention.
- You might want to add a new goal in the light of a new development outside of the business.
- You may even realise that one financial goal has been achieved (hoorah!) and it’s time to celebrate before setting a new goal.
Recognising a goal achieved should lead to reward, not just for you but the whole team. So take the cake and champers in for the team to celebrate with you.
How to track it:
The numbers you have been reviewing will show you your progress towards quantifiable financial goals. Remember to also look at more holistic goals too, and see how your business is progressing towards becoming carbon neutral, for example.
Other daily routine tasks that have worked well for clients:
- 15 minutes spent reading industry news, business news, or professional development material .
- 15 minutes spent learning or honing a new skill online, like learning about marketing, sales, human resources, AI, etc.
- Writing and reviewing your goals for the future; the year, quarter, month or week.
The Small Business Owner Morning Routine
✅ Content Audit (Content)
✅ Cash Balances (Cash)
✅ Number of Leads (Customers)
✅ KPIs, Projects and Tasks (Gameplan)
✅ Daily Sales (Growth)
✅ Goals (Goals)
plus
✅ News
✅ Training
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