10 Tips to streamline your business
Having a ‘clear out’ for our business typically starts as we approach a New Year (out with the old and in with the new) but you don’t need to wait for the start of a new year before you introduce more efficient ways of working and looking at streamlining your business and its processes.
Scaling your business
When growing a business it is very important to document the tasks that you do and how you do them, particularly if you intend to take on staff eventually or scale your business one day. We can all spend time working on areas of our business that we like but are not always revenue earning, whilst neglecting the parts of the business we don’t enjoy so much. When you start the process of streamlining your business you will need to cover all aspects of your business, not just the bits you like! An overall, efficient business will run like clockwork! Processes and systems make running your business enjoyable and easy.
Bogging you down
Don’t get bogged down with the parts of your business that you really don’t enjoy if it either takes you too long or you start to recognise you created a pattern of ‘avoidance’. Saving the worst tasks until last, and then letting them slip off your ‘to do’ list altogether. This may include dealing with suppliers or customers that you don’t particularly like engaging with. If they sap your time and energy and are not helping your business stay profitable, streamline them too! Change them. There are lots of other good suppliers or customers who will take their place. Life is too short and your time is too precious to let it be wasted.
Here are 10 Tips to streamline your business
- Automate repetitive tasks. Introduce templates into your business or better still, use technology to make day to day tasks more time efficient.
- Streamline your spending. Analyse costs – keep a close eye on expenditure and get rid of unnecessary spending, the small amounts that you pay each month for things you often don’t need, soon collectively add up.
- Review and update your website to remove any information that is out of date or incorrect otherwise it may result in time wasting enquiries.
- Spend more time getting to know your top referrers. You get 80% of your business from 20% of these people. Cultivate and strengthen these relationships so your time is wisely spent.
- Outsource important tasks to professionals, tasks you dislike and steal your valuable time but don’t earn you money. Work with a remote VA if you hate admin.
- Streamline or tidy your office – get rid of unwanted junk and regularly do your filing to stay organised. If you have a messy office it mentally bogs you down and clutters your mind.
- Appointments – Manage your diary well or automate it. Block out areas of time for you and important tasks. Don’t waste time on unnecessary meetings which are not earning you a fee. Keep these short.
- Stay focused and stay off Social Media unless you streamline your daily or weekly posts by using a scheduling tool like Hootsuite or Buffer.
- Look at your business processes to see how or where you can improve them to become more time efficient. Using technology or apps will help with many tasks.
- Introduce a workflow system that works! If you have staff, ensure there is no duplication of work, everybody knowing their responsibilities so there is no doubling up on work. Using a shared files system or a software workflow system will be a good start.
Achieve More!
When you streamline your business you become more efficient and can achieve more during your working day. When you are more efficient you also think more clearly which means you have clarity and can make better judgements and therefore make better business decisions. It may seem a daunting task, to turn attention to your business when you are busy, to make it more efficient but it will be time very well spent in the long run. If your intention is to grow your business, your future self will thank you!
Do your business a favour and give it the attention it deserves.
