Business success is the most important factor for any professional activist engaged in small or big business endeavor. But do you really know what does business success really depend upon?
Some businessmen think it depends upon the product output in the business while some consider financial management as an important factor. But in fact, the truth is that business success depends mainly upon the way you manage your business.
This is the reason why out of the two firms running the same business one achieves success while other does not. The difference mainly lies in the way they manage the working of their business.
According to a study, it has been found that the entrepreneurs who think less like small business owners and more like big business CEOs possess greater chances of achieving long run success.
If you are a small business owner, you have to face unique challenges like selling, delivering, financing, managing and growing your business with little or no staff.
While in case of big business entrepreneurs, they face complex challenges like training and motivating personnels, managing workforce, updating accounts, meeting with deadlines and managing business contacts.
It can be understood that accomplishing these tasks is certainly not an easy job. However, a few effective tips on managing a business in a better way can certainly ease the process.
So, let me suggest you some effective steps as to how you can manage your business in a better way.
- Create and Share Your Business Plan:
Create a business plan showing the business mission and long term vision of your enterprise. Your business plan should reveal the type of business you are doing and how you are going to do the working to achieve business goals.
The plan should clearly reflect all measures you need to implement to increase productivity, enhance product output and maximize the number of clients. Keep on reviewing this business plan regularly, so that you can measure your work updates and confirm with the next task at work.
According to a recent survey, it has been found that a business plan doubles the chances of your business success. The survey also indicated that the entrepreneur who completes a business plan and reviews it regularly is more likely to become a better entrepreneur.
Also, ensure that your employees have copies of employee handbook and they are well-versed with the business plan. This will help them get familiarized with the business and remain in sync with the working of the firm.
2. Hire a Competent Staff and Encourage Them:
According to Kiplinger, whether you hire one person or have 100 employees in your staff, it is necessary to have the right people in your organization. Hiring your relatives who may not be competent enough but are just in need of a job will in no way be fruitful for your business.
You need to have professional people in your staff who possess the necessary skills, competence, experience and dedication to provide with continuous productive work. It is only the productive work carried out by your skilled staff that is going to enhance your business results.
Also, it is necessary that you remain updated with the working of your staff. Keep a regular check on their timings and working on the floor. Instruct them to prepare a daily worksheet and remain updated with their daily work output on a regular basis.
Moreover, it is advisable to encourage your staff by giving them bonus or perks on performing their duties impressively. Encourage active business participation and reward them with incentives on effective contribution. This will keep them motivated to perform better for the organization and enhance your business output.
- Set Short Term Goals and Priorities:
After defining your long term goals in your business plan, it is advisable to divide them into short term goals to meet at regular time intervals. Break long term goals into small, actionable and achievable goals you can meet with and write them down on a paper for your reference.
A Harvard business study revealed that a person is more likely to achieve a goal if it is written down. By the way of writing it down, a person not only captures the written plan, but that also keeps it dynamic and alive.
After doing so, prepare a to-do list of the step by step tasks you need to carry out to accomplish those short term goals. Allot a required amount of time you need to perform those business tasks.
Set these tasks in the order of priorities, so that you can carry out the most important tasks first. Set priorities for the different tasks in the following order:
- Most important and most urgent tasks
- Not so important but urgent tasks
- Most important but not so urgent tasks
- Not so important and not so urgent tasks
Follow this list and implement business tasks according to this order of pre-set priorities. This will enable you to carry out the tasks in the perfect order of priorities and you will be able to achieve the business goals in the right step by step order of importance.
- Operate Day-to-Day and Stay Organized:
According to Entrepreneur, the best way to run your business is to operate it on a day-to-day basis. Keep informed and updated with the daily tasks being performed in your business organization. This will help you keep a check on the productivity availed to your business by different business operations.
At the same time, you need to remain organized with respect to your time, employees, finances and inventory for the successful management of your business. Keep a regular record of all these aspects and update them as and when needed.
If needed, appoint a supervisor or business operations manager who can keep a regular check on business operations and resources and keep you informed and organized with the latest business updates.
You can download and use StudioCloud, which is an award winning free business management software used by tens of thousands of businesses. This online software helps you in storing business information and remaining updated about business information.
- Utilize Your Business Resources Effectively:
When you are the owner of a business, it becomes a part of your responsibility to ensure that the resources of the business are managed optimally. You need to keep a regular check on the amount of time and expenditure spent for business and the amount of output gained through those factors.
Even in your own case, you need to spend your time, which is a vital resource for your business, in a way that is serving for the best interests of your business. To know more about how to use your business hours more effectively, read this article titled “9 Significant Ways To Utilize Your Business Hours Most Effectively”.
For example, if you are spending two hours everyday for updating yourself with business e-mails, you can instead appoint an correspondence assistant and spend that time on grabbing hold of business development opportunities which are much more important for your business.
You also need to check the amount of remuneration paid to your staff and the productivity given by them in return. If you are not getting enough productivity, you need to take steps to ensure that you get greater productivity from your employees than the amount of salary paid to them.
You should also check whether you are allocating other resources in a way that is fruitful for your business or not. It is also necessary to confirm that you are getting enough return on your business investments.
When all your business resources are providing you with the required utility, it can be said that you are managing your resources effectively. Effective utilization of business resources will directly contribute in managing your business in a better way.
- Monitor, Measure and Analyze Business Results:
In big business, revenue, sales, marketing, effectiveness, human capital, and technology are consistently measured and monitored. This constant analysis ensures that deficiencies can be spotted and corrected, and the CEOs can learn what’s working and what’s not.
In big business units, aspects like sales, marketing, effectiveness, human resources, technology and revenue are measured and monitored on a regular basis. Due to this continuous analysis, business performance can be measured on the basis of factual data.
For a business to be successful, it is important that you understand which statistics reflect good and bad performance, so that corrective action can be taken immediately.
Business analysis enables to meet with the deficiencies in the working of the business and quickly rectify them. It also helps business managers to know exactly as to what’s working for the business and what’s not.
It can give them the exact picture about the working of the business and progress level of the business. After knowing it, they can make the necessary changes in the business operations whenever and wherever needed. This will in turn help in improving business management and thereby business results.
- Expand Your Business Network:
According to a survey, 80% of the people said that they network with other people for business development. While, 76% of the people reported that different types of businesses they wanted to know more about encouraged them to network with people.
The lesson is that you need to expand your business network whether it may be in the form of your employees, clients or prospects. This will in turn help in increasing the liking and support for your business organization.
Join small business associations and participate in community events to increase awareness of your business among people. Also, participate in community functions, so potential clients will get known about the services you offer.
Subscribe to magazines or online newsletters to remain in touch with the latest trends in your industry. This will help you to stay updated about what’s happening in your industry and stay ahead of your competition.
Prepare a list of your satisfied customers who are willing to advocate for your business among your prospects. This will enable your prospects to verify your work and customer service. It will build their trust in your business and turn them into new clients of your business.
A Final Note
I strongly recommend you to implement these practices in your business whether small or big. By doing so, you will always know exactly where your business stands and what you need to do to improve business performance.
You will be able to feel a sense of confidence and surety about the working of your business. Most of all, it is bound to help you immensely in managing your business in a better way and thereby enhance your business results.
So, what other effective steps do you suggest to manage a business in a better way?