Leah Hutcheon is the founder of Appointedd, a cloud based software system that enables independent businesses to take guaranteed bookings online. She joined us at Small is Beautiful 2015 to discuss the value of time. As Leah sees it, time is your ultimate perishable product.

Time is so important to Leah that she worked her business around it – it helps small businesses to manage their time, appointments & admin. Time is important, and Leah says she feels lucky to work with inspirational businesses, help them keep work from taking over their lives, and take away some of the painful parts of work like admin.

Leah points out that our language about time is often unproductive. The verb "spending" time is active, while other verbs we use are passive – it flies, passes, goes by – like we don't have control. She urges us to take control of our time, particularly in our business.

"Cash may be king but time is queen – & she's feisty. It's not about having time, but making it – & making compromises." The start-up dichotomy says "push boundaries" but also "get shit done". Executing is as important as planning.

Leah also reckons that "Spending a day away from work could be more impactful than going to work," – one of our beliefs at Small is Beautiful. Taking the time to work on as well as in your business has been a topic of conversation here since last year's event.

She also calls out the pervasive attitude that it's cool to be busy. "The ability to execute is power in small business," she says, and "productivity is self-control."

Leah's core advice:
Spend your time wisely on what you really want to do.
Find the tools that allow you to focus on what you love doing and selling.
Make sure you love your work and value the time you spend doing it.

Learn more about Leah here.

Like what you see? Small is Beautiful 2016 takes place in Edinburgh on 14 & 15 June 2016. Register here.