by Nigel Hilton
You are passionate about your business. You want to deliver your product or service to the very best of your ability every single time. We know that you work hard, we know that you have vision and determination. But have you taken the time to stand back and ensure that a few of the fundamentals are in place so that you can concentrate on driving your business forward? If you haven’t yet done this, now is the time, as we share with you 4 steps to an efficient business.
1. Clarity
In order to run your business efficiently, you need to be clear on what you are looking to achieve. You need to break this down into daily, weekly, monthly aims and so on, and then consider every element of your business that is needed to deliver these aims. Muddling along and hoping that it will all come good is not working efficiently, you want to remove potential obstacles before they arise whenever possible.
2. Tasks and administration
Look to contract out any tasks that are draining your time. We are referring to those tasks that are essential to your business, but are better completed by experts in the field, leaving you free to concentrate on your business development and delivery. For example you could opt to work with a company that offers managed IT services and IT project planning, visit here for more information on this website. Consider whether any of the regular processes and administrative jobs that are being completed can be automated or at the very least, carried out more efficiently.
3. Communication
This one is absolutely crucial, and we are referring to communication on several different levels here. Firstly, have you effectively communicated your business goals and mission to anyone connected to helping you to deliver it? If you have a team working with you, you must ensure that you are all on the same page with both short and long terms goals. Have you communicated all that you need to deliver to your loved ones, so that they can appreciate what you are trying to do and support you in any way that they can? Finally, are you communicating effectively with your customers? This might be through your shop front, your website, your Twitter feed, your newsletters or face to face contact. Do ensure that lines of communication remain open and clear.
4. Customer service
Spend time on improving your customer service. This is absolutely crucial to any business, you need your customer base and you need them to have positive experiences with you. Think about connecting through social media and do your research to ensure that you know who they are. The area that often gets overlooked, yet can be the most useful to you, is simply asking for feedback. You can do this through using a business review website or asking them directly yourself.
What other steps would you add to ensure a more efficient business?