This article is contributed by Jason Dirkham
If you operate a small business then you will understand more than anyone else how important it is for you to try and stay on top of everything. After all, you have to think about how you are going to monitor your team, your customers, your business premises and so much more. Of course, all of this can stop your business from being efficient because you don’t have time to over-analyse every single process that you have. If you want to avoid all of this while ensuring your own business success then you can take a look below.
Don’t Expand too Fast
This has happened so many times before. Business owners start seeing the money and they automatically think that the bigger they get, the more money they will get. If you constantly focus on this then you may find that you expand too quickly and this can cause you major problems in the future. You may find that you can’t adjust the workflow that you have and you may even find that you don’t have the right systems in place to support the expansion either. This is something that you will want to avoid, so if you feel as though you are ready to expand then you need to run the numbers and you also need to try and make sure that you are making every effort to try and know if expanding right now is the right thing to do.
Don’t Always Employ New Technology
This is another issue that so many people experience. Companies are often told to expand into new technology and this is a great way for you to make sure that you are constantly staying relevant to your audience, but that doesn’t mean that you should be expanding into every single new type of technology you see. You need to make sure that the tech is going to make your workflow more efficient and easier. You may not always be able to tell which technology is going to boost your bottom line and what isn’t, but if you can, you should always analyse the features of a product and you should also try and test it wherever possible. When you are able to do this, you can then get a good idea of whether or not it is worth investing in. You also need to think about how the technology is going to affect your staff as well. Your team need to have very efficient tools and even systems in place for them to use if they ever want to get the job done as well so it is a good idea for you to chat with them about what they feel as though they are lacking.
Communication
It is so important that you are able to have a good level of business communication. If you do have a poor level of communication then any work that you do will be inefficient. Communication should always be on-point and you also need to make sure that everyone has the ability to communicate with one another as well. You can do this by mobile, email or even face to face. It doesn’t really matter which option you choose, but if you do have poor communication then this can really have an impact on your business and everything you do. Try and make sure that you have open avenues and make everything as easy as possible. If you want your employees to chat over email then make sure that you have a good server and an easy to use mailbox. If you want them to communicate face to face then think about having an open office floor plan. When you do this, you make it much easier for them to engage with one another and you can also really reap the benefits that come with this as well.
Malware and Viruses
If you are not careful with your technology or if you do not make the effort to try and secure it wherever possible then you run the risk of exposing your company to viruses and even malware. This is the last thing that you need, so it is important that you have certain security measures in place to try and stop this from happening. If you are using a cloud system then try and password protect it, if you have sensitive documents then make sure that only certain staff members have access, etc. When you do this, you will soon find that your security all adds up and that sometimes little changes are all you need in order to ensure big results.
Always be Prepared
Your business can be brought down at any time and this is especially the case if you are not prepared. You may find that your business is hit by a natural disaster or you may even find that you experience a break-in. This could devastate your company and at times you may even not be sure if you can come back from it. For this reason, it is so important that you are able to prepare for anything that could go wrong. If you know that your business location is prone to flooding then create a process that people can follow when a flood warning is issued. If you know that blackouts frequently occur, install a generator. Things like this can really help you to keep your business running and you should never underestimate the power of preparation.
Focus on Managers
When you hire managers, it is their job to manage the team. The last thing that you need is to have managers who have no idea what they are doing because you haven’t trained them enough. If this is the case then your team will also have no idea what they are doing either and this can cause you real issues in the future. If you want to get around this then you need to make sure that you are providing your managers and those who work in the higher tier with the training required to do the job. You also need to make sure that they are trained to the point where they can run the team, rather than micromanaging it. After all, nobody likes being micromanaged and if your managers are constantly trying to do this to ensure efficiency then you won’t be running an efficient company at all.
Offer Incentives
When your employees show up to work on time or when they do really good work, it is important that you are able to reward them. You need to make them believe that what they are doing is good enough and that you recognize their efforts. You can give them gifts at the end of the year or you can even offer a holiday to the best-performing employee in the company. The best thing about this is that it rewards those who are trying the hardest and it also gives people something to put the extra effort in for. If you are not sure what to offer them then why not consider giving them a ride in the fastest private jet in the world, the chance of a promotion or even a way for them to get some extra vacation days. This can make all the difference to your employee morale and it can also help them to stay focused on the job even when times get tough.
Automate
The more processes you have that are automated, the better. Automation can help you to get more jobs done on a day to day basis and it also frees up some of your employee time as well. if you are not sure how to automate your processes then start with the basics. If you ship products out to your customers then invest in a scanner so that you can track them from the point they come in, rather than keying in the information by hand. When you have done this, consider setting up email updates for your customers so they can track their package. Little things like this can eliminate tedious tasks and it can also save you money in hiring new staff as well.
Don’t Overwork your Team
When an employee quits, there is a high chance that you will dump all of their work onto another employee. When you do this, you save money but you also put a ton of pressure on the other employee. This is something that you will want to avoid because an overloaded employee is not a happy one and you may even find that their job quality reduces as well. This is the last thing that you need when you are putting so much work into making sure that your business is as efficient as possible, so analyse the workload that you are giving to each person, and look at the bigger picture when it comes to your employee happiness. Giving someone a pay rise so that they can handle extra work is one thing, but there are limits to this and sometimes hiring some extra people to work for you is the best thing for the whole company, even if it does hurt your bottom line slightly.
This article is contributed by Jason Dirkham
