Minutes Matter: Kay Dewar

I’m delighted to introduce the next guest on Minutes Matter, Kay Dewar. Kay is a mum of two girls, is based in Glasgow and has been running her business Kando for 6.5 years. Kay is a tech whizz, and helps online business owners with their systems.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and your business? What inspired you to start your own business?

I support small business owners to take their business out of their head and into structured, efficient systems giving them more time freedom and reducing the mental load. I was inspired to start my own business as I was working ridiculously long hours in corporate, sacrificing time with my family doing so and realising a lot of the time spent at work was actually wasted time with poor management decisions not focusing efforts efficiently.

How do you typically structure your workday?

My day generally starts with a meditation and then a walk. Then it’s making sure the kids are ready and out to school and then it’s my work block for the day. Then kids time which can be running them to clubs and I’ll fit the gym in while they’re there!

How do you typically structure your working week?

I time block across the week. I have a day that’s for my own business admin - content planning and scheduling and metrics tracking to keep on top of what’s working and what needs to change. And then have days for meetings for building relationships and networking and days for client work.

How do you prioritise tasks and decide what to focus on each day?

I have everything tracked in Clickup (and mirrored in my calendar) so I know what the focus for each day is and my week overall. There are priority labels and due dates when something has a definitive deadline.

Are there any specific tools, apps or time management techniques that you use to manage your time efficiently?

Clickup, Google calendar and time blocking. I use the time tracking within Clickup to make sure I’m being realistic about the time I allocate to different types of activities each week.

How do you balance the various roles that we often take on as small business owners, e.g. marketing, admin, delivery of product/service?

Splitting it into the set days, having a content bank that I can call on to reduce the time needed for content creation, automating where possible and having everything in Clickup so I’m not wasting time searching for files or information I need.

What challenges do you face juggling entrepreneurship with parenthood, and can you share any strategies that you use to help with this?

Time and giving the right activities the right focus when it’s needed. Having clarity on my week and everything to hand when it’s need reduces the time needed and time wasted. I also stack where possible so I go to the gym when my daughter is at her boxing class or go a run while my daughter is in gymnastics so I’m making sure that I’m always maximising what I’m doing with my time.

Distractions can be a challenge when working independently; how do you minimise distractions to stay focused?

Keep the phone in another room when I’ve got tasks to focus on and have notifications off for everything!

How do you handle unexpected challenges or change, that invariably happens when running a business as a parent?

Knowing the right priorities - reviewing any absolute deadlines and what can have some movement to accommodate and working around this. Deciding if something does have to give but with the knowledge of how or when you can reincorporate it when needed.

What have been your biggest insights when it comes to managing your time as a small business owner?

Managing your time is your key to freedom and sanity. If you don’t manage your time that’s when the stress and overwhelm come in and you end up achieving less.

What do you like to do in your free-time?

Walk/run, explore new places and new food!

Thank you Kay for sharing your thoughts with us, and I’m loving that you’re a time blocker too - it’s one of my favourite tools!

You’ll find Kay’s website here, and she can also be reached on Facebook and LinkedIn.

If you’d like to be featured, please fill out my interview questionnaire here.