02 May Run Your Business More Efficiently – Business Series – Part 2
2022 is the year for growth, with economic conditions improving, consumers back in the buying game, and the pandemic waning.
Looking ahead over the next 12 to 18 months, companies may be hoping to see substantial growth. It may be possible, especially if organizations do the hard work now to prepare for opportunities to bound ahead of the competition.
One way to improve growth opportunities is to improve efficiency. It’s not just about seeking sales increase but also trimming back and improving the overall business model to boost bottom lines.
Communication is the Key
Effective and prompt communication is a vital component to make a business more efficient than ever. If there are poor communication means in your business or company, the employees and other business concerns will be unable to raise the issues and problems facing they are. In results, the business can suffer from abnormal loss. Effective communication also enables a business to stay in touch with its customers or clients to provide them quality services whenever needed.
Maintain High Employee Morale
Happy and satisfied employees can do a lot for your business. When they feel valued, they are more likely to provide their 100%+ to execute business operations more efficiently. Know your employees personally and highlight their accomplishment in front of others to make them feel proud.
Hold 10 Minute Meetings Daily
Each day, NOAH gathers as a company for a 15-minute Zoom meeting. The meeting serves as a way for us to communicate top projects, what we’re doing that day and that keeps everyone in the loop, including a roundup of our key performance indicators. We also celebrate accomplishments.
Work to automate operations as much as possible
With good time management, companies can do more and achieve bigger results. One way to boost time management is to improve automation. Often, organizations see automation as a big-ticket investment they have to make into their operation. Initially, it seems cost-prohibitive, but there are real opportunities to automate small tasks to see big results.
Consider the benefits of automation in various sectors of the company. Automate operations where possible. Automating that task could mean efficiency improvement if a machine can do it and a person does not need to oversee the process. That may include marketing, sales processes, customer service, and other areas.
Moreover, you could automate repetitive tasks such as the hiring process or application process. Work to eliminate tedious tasks that take too much time and yield very little insights.
Improve your business’s online footprint
It’s also beneficial to companies to get more of their business online. With this in mind, small businesses are specifically at risk for being left behind when it comes to efficiencies because they don’t provide consumers with access to online and mobile shopping.
Widen the online footprint of the company to move more operations online. That includes selling directly to customers on a website and not just relying on retailers to manage product sales. It may also mean working to bring more marketing efforts online where they are more likely to pay off through social media and brand building.
Improving an online presence may help in numerous ways. First, it helps to streamline both marketing and sales strategies. At the same time, it provides a much higher ROI because of the less demand on third-party retailers.
Additionally, building an online presence builds the company’s credibility and brand recognition, meaning less money needs to go towards educating the public about the company and its products. In turn, this enables you to run your business more efficiently.
Delegate the Small Things
There is only a certain number of hours in a day. Regardless of your intellectual capacity and work ethic, you’ll always have something on which you could be working. Most small business owners struggle with delegation because they are habitual doers. Even if these business owners do delegate, they micromanage the tasks, defeating the purpose of delegating altogether.
To run your business more efficiently, you must delegate. Take the time to learn your employees’ strengths and weaknesses so that you can delegate more effectively. Put checks and balances in place so that you can monitor the processes in the beginning and relax control over time. Finally, trust your team to accomplish their roles. Delegation puts accountability on your team and can help them become more invested in the success of your business.
Single Tasking vs. Multi-Tasking
There was a time when I was an excellent multi-tasker, and I would proudly have 11 tabs open on my laptop. Not anymore. I agree with the thought process that while people can potentially multitask, they’re not necessarily being more productive. So, here’s where the idea of “single-tasking” (or focusing on one task only until completion) comes into play. ‘Single-tasking’ allows you to get more done quickly by not letting projects rot on the vine when they’re almost complete. It’s easy to falsely feel productive when you have 10 projects going on, but nothing actually getting out into the world.
Focusing on “single-tasking” until a project is complete helps you actually execute, rather than chipping away at so many different projects that nothing ever gets finished.
Boost Your Productivity with 10 Time Management Tips (bplans.com)
In closing…”If we Keep Doing What We’re Doing, we’re going to Keep Getting What We’re Getting” ~Stephen Covey
Successfully running a small business requires a great deal of time, energy, money and other resources. If you want to increase your chances for success, focus on being as efficient as possible. Do this by delegating, remaining focused, utilizing tools, automating processes and welcoming change.
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