Many people believe that the launch is the hardest aspect of running a business, especially if you’re setting up from scratch. It’s true that this can be tricky and hard to navigate, but this is only the beginning. The true challenge is growing your business and taking it to the next level. In order to do this, you have to monitor and reflect constantly. You have to find ways to simplify and streamline each aspect to maximize your time and profits.
Technology
Technology can take away a lot of your headaches, especially when it comes to saving time. For example, if your company deals with data, significant time and resources are often spent collating, cleaning, consolidating, filtering and restructuring. However, data ingestion tools can do this for you, handling large volumes on a continuous basis.
There are many tools readily available to fulfill all manner of processes. And if you can’t find an off-the-shelf solution, it’s worth looking into a bespoke application.
Outsourcing
Many small businesses start with the owner working in the business. This is fine in the early stages, but it is not conducive to growth. If you are spending all your time completing day-to-day tasks, you won’t have time available to grow the business and take it to the next level. There are many solutions for this, including employing more staff. However, this may not be feasible or financially viable in the early stages. It may be more cost-effective if you outsource some of your work. We live in a service environment so you can outsource most aspects of day-to-day processes. For example, if you don’t have time to market your business properly or manage social media, etc. find someone who can do this for you. You may not need someone to work on a full-time basis, just a day a week, etc. and so outsourcing is ideal. Or, you could look for a solution part way between this, by automating your social media posts.
If you’re a slave to your phone and email, this is another area that could be delegated elsewhere. Consider setting up a virtual reception service to take your phone calls and channel them to the correct person. Messages can be taken if you’re not around or are too busy to respond. And if you need something a little more than telephone answering, a virtual assistant can ease the burden. The advantage is that you don’t have to take on a member of staff and everything that entails. The work is completed by a professional freeing you up to work in other areas.
Stop And Reassess
It’s worth taking some time to go through all of the processes and map out what each member of staff completes each day. Involve everyone in this process and ask for feedback. You may find there are lots of areas that can be streamlined, simplified or outsourced. A company that runs efficiently and makes the most of its resources will maximize time and profits. Perhaps more importantly, it will provide additional time for you to work on progression and growth.