5 Tips For Organising Your Small Business

The business environment is constantly changing and there’s a surge of new start-ups every day.  Products and services that once dominated the commodity markets may well be obsolete in the not so distant future. Research shows that the pace of this dynamism will only accelerate. Stiff competition in the marketplace, together with eternally changing customer needs create a demand not only for current innovation but for business reorganisation and effectiveness.

As a small business owner, you need to reposition yourself, retool and reorganise to break even in the current market environment.   If you want a successful and profitable business you need to keep up with these changes, and this means implementing the right strategies and systems to ensure your business is super organised and runs like clockwork.  Your competitors are efficient and effective, so you need to be more than that.  When your business is brilliantly organised and in great shape it’s easier to attract more customers, increase sales and see sustained growth.

Here’s 5 tips for organising your small business:

1. Plan Effectively

When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.  Investing time in planning is one of the most important tasks you can do for your business, if you don’t have a plan you will waste a great deal of time steering in the wrong direction. As Benjamin Franklin said, ‘If you fail to plan you are planning to fail.’

2. Strategise All the Way

Careful consideration must be given to all aspects of your business, for example, what is your marketing strategy? Consider adopting a niche marketing strategy and target a specific sector by offering specialised products or services. This will not only earn you unwavering customer loyalty, but also a deeply entrenched and durable brand. In the end, you will have improved profit margins and sustained business growth.

Think carefully about your social media and digital marketing strategy, and how you’ll utilise your online presence to grow your customer connections.

3. Set goals 

It’s so important to set both short and long-term goals, knowing what we’re working towards and why keeps our motivation levels in check.  It’s key to set goals that both stretch you and are realistic. Ask yourself, are these goals achievable? Being too ambitious may result in having to over-extend yourself and unnecessarily exhaust your business resources.  You also don’t want to end up so consumed with your business activities such that you fail to maintain work life balance.

There is only so much one person can achieve on their own.  At some point you may wish to bring on board additional players to help you accomplish greater goals. A team of loyal helpers who share your passion and drive can contribute to the success and growth of your business.

4. Delegate and Outsource

Handling everything yourself isn’t practical in the long term.  Offloading some of the workload can bring you relief and free you up to focus on the bigger picture.  Certain tasks such as social media and digital marketing, blogging and newsletters are critical tasks that are central to the success of your business, but they are time draining.  Thus, it makes sense to seek help in these areas to ensure you maintain consistent activity whilst also being able to focus on other projects.

No matter how obsessed you are with your work, attempting to handle all tasks simultaneously will lead you to exhaustion and burn out.  Take some time to consider what tasks must be done by you, and the rest can be delegated to someone else.

5. Implement Systems and Tools

The internet has revolutionised how we run our businesses.  It’s brought organisations and customers around the world closer and able to buy and sell with more ease than ever before.  This has an immensely positive impact on time management and productivity.

It goes without saying that any small business requires a 24/7 online presence. This means having a website and email system at the very least. There is however a plethora of online systems and tools that can help you streamline all areas of your business, for example, bookkeeping tools that will save you time and help you to keep up-to-date records of taxes and inventory.  There’s an ocean of reliable and effective communication systems and tools available, making it faster and easier than ever to liaise with your team members and keep each other up to date on the progress of projects.

To discuss how I could help you organise your business feel free to contact me here.