Nothing seems easier than running a well-organized business. In this case you don’t need to micromanage everything since all the employees have clearly outlined tasks assigned to them. Furthermore, seeing how your expenses are already optimized, making a profit seems much easier. However, while all of this may be true, streamlining your business is not a simple thing to do. Here are five tips that may help you out on this quest.
1. Reduce Your Expenses
In 2017, there are so many new approaches which can help you reduce your expenses. For example, there is no need to pay astronomical phone bills when you have platforms, such as Skype, Viber or Facebook Messenger. Furthermore, while you will still have to keep hard copy of some documents, you don’t have to print absolutely everything. There is nothing wrong with keeping some of these files in their electronic form. There are many other similar organizational moves you can make, which are good both for your budget and the planet (i.e. spending less consumables).
2. Priority Instead of To-Do List
One of the greatest problems small businesses encounter is the difficulty in prioritizing. Instead, they make to-do lists, which practically do nothing in particular except from arranging all the work they have to do according to the timetable. Unfortunately, this is not the most reliable method. Even if you try to be completely unbiased, not all of your clients are of the same priority. Sometimes, it is a much better option to have one client returning than gain a few one-time customers. Besides prioritizing, it is also highly suggested that you avoid increasing your workload beyond your business capacities in order not to let anyone down.
3. Better Shift Planning
In case where you have more than one shift in your company, you will have a demanding task of coming up with a plan that suits everyone. No matter how hard you try, someone will always dislike what their schedule, and the most common course of action for these dissatisfied staff members is to accuse you (or whoever made the shift schedule) of being biased. This is especially troublesome when it comes to remote workers since tracking their work hours may be quite problematic. Luckily with an adequate online time clock you can do both of these things. Furthermore, seeing how shifts are now run by software, you will avoid any sort of accusations on account of your subjectivity.
4. Automation and IoT
The greatest problem small businesses face is a lack of personnel. Even though you may be horribly understaffed, more often than not, hiring simply won’t be an option. In order to make your business run smoothly, you should probably resort to automation. The way this works is quite simple. Whenever you notice a task which keeps repeating itself, you should look for a device or a platform that can deal with it. One of the examples is scheduling your social media posts and responses through IFTTT (if that, then that). Along with automation, you can also consider integrating everyday business processes to IoT technology. You might find it to be more productive and time-saving as it can monitor the working state of your equipment, backup data onto the cloud, and much more (do some additional reading on the same).
5. Avoid Getting Fined
The thing about your money is that you should either spend it on yourself or invest it into your business. Whatever you do, this money cannot be considered as wasted. On the other hand, getting fined because of your negligence is nothing but throwing away your resources. Keep this in mind at all times and try to be more responsible when managing your responsibilities. Try to keep your promises and fulfill them in time, don’t break the law and always treat your partners, creditors and employees with the respect they deserve.
Conclusion
Making a proper business structure is not easy. After all, 9 out of 10 startups fail in their first year exactly because they lack the experience in dealing with various difficulties and shortcomings. While it is possible to correct some of these mistakes later on, the longer you wait the more difficult it would be to solve a problem. You need to start thinking about these things as early as possible, but it is vital that you do a proper research beforehand. Look up to successful people in your industry, talk to professionals and even take a business course or two. Sure, all of it may seem as a lot of work, but in the end it is always more than worth it.
