1. for your phone - route it to a receptionist, implement a triage that allows the receptionist to screen the calls and prioritise for you
2. time block your calendar, give staff access to see your calendar and book time with you, make sure everyone in your organization starts living by their calendar.
3. setup a calendly or booking link for your clients to book your time to discuss things with you
4. leverage your account and client facing team members more, if clients are by-passing the client facing point of contact - either that staff isn’t very good or the client thinks their entitled to more - identify which on a case-by-case basis and deal with it.
5. stop trying to build your own project management software and find something off the shelf - you’re not a Dev house, PM SaaS companies have hundreds of engineers and deep pockets. just get something off the shelf and optimise for your needs - if you need, i can help you with this pro-bono, DM me.

this works, i’ve done and still do it for myself, i have over 50 portcos and take weekly meeting so in any given week i have up to 35 hours of calls on top of any prep work, as well as dozens of the startups that i mentor as part of my portfolio across all sorts of businesses. it will take you about 2 months to feel the change.

I’d honestly switch numbers and get your personal contacts & school connected with the new number. Just for purposes of project management it would drive me crazy with things coming from all directions.

I’m a data analysts at one of the largest insurance brokers and we thought about using Monday like you’ve. Sadly it wasn’t up to par with what we needed. We found our best solutions were to honestly keep taking things slowly and develop what we needed. Not sure what exactly you have for man power and stuff but there’s a lot of systems out there that can be beneficial. I’d suggest setting up some sorters for example a quick power automate system that can funnel and organize your emails for you.

Looks like you need to hire a high-level assistant. It would help you a lot by taking small but time-consuming tasks off your shoulders. For the custom solution you’re getting built, did you hire individual contractors or a full agency? It might get overwhelming to handle communication with individual contractors.

u/Little-Lemon2101 sounds like you need some process management. It’s a matter of bringing each request into it‘s matching „workflow lane“.

It also sounds like there is a huge proportion of requests that are probably similar (and simple). They kill your time (and focus) when it’s uncalled for. You need some kind of template to answer them without putting too much effort into them. Some kind of filter.

I think you know that when you say yes to those calls, you’re saying no to focusing on what you’re really good at and what you do best. In the nicest way possible, you’ll have to set some boundaries but you can do that without being awkward. First, I would try to communicate up front with new clients about when they’ll get updated and that they can call the office if they need anything. This just sets their expectations up for that from the beginning and then you can feel more comfortable standing by it. With the people who already have your number, I wonder why they feel the need to reach out to you directly and so often. Sometimes people are anxious and just need to be reassured. If you want, the next time one of them reaches out you can say “I want to give you my undivided attention but I’m in the middle of something right now. If you don’t mind, can you call the office and set up a time we can talk later?” and when you keep doing that, they’ll learn that that’s the best way to get in touch with you and that you are super busy. And you have to stick with it! If they still can’t respect it, stop answering them or block them forcing them to call the office. And when they bring up you not answering the phone, have your assistant say “oh i’m sorry, we had to cancel that number so that phone calls would come to the office directly. Most times small questions can be handled by an assistant but if not, it’s best that we schedule a time when she’s available as her calendar is quite full” something like that!

1. You need a vice president, or manager (another you) to field all of your phone calls and emails.

When you answer phone calls and emails let your current clients know and that you have a new vice president manager assistant etc so that they are prepared to have to deal with somebody else.

Also make sure that they know how capable you believe the person is and how wonderful they are.

2. You need a second phone. One just for your family.

Practical advice - read a book on time management and exercise the 3 Ds (Do, delegate, defer). Don’t give out your phone number anymore and set an auto respond on your email explaining that everything will be dealt with in turn.

Philosophical advice - being really busy is good. It sounds like you’ve built a great business. The pressure you feel right now is a muscle that you exercise and you’ll only get better at dealing with it with practice.

Check out Quickbase for project management-low code suite, it’s a game changer once fully implemented.

Get new personal number, give to no-one, redirect any old numbers to your receptionist.

I run a marketing agency, I had the exact same problem you’re having, it’s genuinely it’s the only way. Good clients won’t care, mediocre clients will complain but get over it, bad clients will leave. It took me ages to get to the point I was willing to, but I built my agency up from being a freelancer, which means many of my oldest clients still felt like they could treat me like an employee, which I’m not.

Project management apps help, SOP’s help, but the only foolproof solution is a line in the sand. Alot of clients won’t respect your time if you give them an option, so don’t.

1. You get a new personal phone number, your current one becomes the business mobile. You’ve grown the business to the point where you now need to separate personal and business properly.

2. You need to get a great consultant in for a few days to review the business objectively, you are too close to this, too immersed.

3. You need a break to clear your head. Make sure you take a good amount of time over Christmas and New Year, only take on work that can be handled with this in mind. No more.

Hi! I own an accounting firm as well. I used to give clients my cell phone number but ran into the same problem. Now I have it in the contract of my boundaries and I make sure they understand before we start the engagement. Some things I have outlined are: no unscheduled phone calls, every meeting/phone call is billed unless they’re on a retainer, SLAs on response time (48 hours), if clients contact me during weekends, holidays, after hours, we go back to the 48 hour response time or next business day. If they want unlimited access to me, they can buy the most expensive package I offer. If they want to do the old-school way of calling me any time of the day, they can hire someone else. So far, I haven’t had a problem.

I also ended up getting a VOIP. So, if they text me after hours, they get an automated response saying we’re closed and it’s after-hours. Also, if they call outside of my office hours, it goes straight to my voicemail which states when we’re available and it says calls are by appointment only.

I also think what’s been helpful for me is joining a group of other accounting firm owners. I have joined Future Firm, which is $150/month, and it’s honestly been so worth it. You’re able to learn from others, bounce ideas, ask the owner of Future Firm questions, etc.