A recruitment consultant has shared his ideas on how business start-ups can achieve success by recommending a focus on sharpening time management skills and processes.

Writing on peer-to-peer site LinkedIn, Piers Rowan advised those setting out on their own to "set a mental alarm" that will allow them to ask themselves every 15 minutes how whatever they are doing is going to generate revenue.

"If you find that - for example - you read a bunch of CVs as they come in and then 'save them for later' then you are instigating a task that needs to be done twice," he explained.

If you are not going to review, call, reject or respond to the candidate there and then, don't waste your (finite / limited / precious) time on it."

The professional suggested adopting an 'OHIO' modus operandi, which means Only Handle It Once, to ensure time is utilised effectively.

Having back office services outsourced to an agency can also save businesses precious time.