8 Excellent Ways To Keep Your Business Organised And Running Productively
Owning a business that manages to keep workers happy and customers coming back again is a great goal to achieve, but there is another part of the equation. Profitability stems from how productive and organised a company is as well as how much a company can improve. In this article we look at 8 ways you can protect your business, keep your customer’s happy and stay productive.
Owning a business that manages to keep workers happy and customers coming back again is a great goal to achieve, but there is another part of the equation. Profitability stems from how productive and organised a company is as well as how much a company can improve. Undoubtedly, new businesses experience a few hiccups when they first start up when planning things out and considering what might happen. The companies that succeed are the ones that quickly get fully on track and are able to make fast adjustments. To ensure that your business is running as efficiently as it can, check out these tips for improved organisation and productivity.
1. Be Someone Your Employees Can Trust
What’s worse than going into work where there isn’t an employee handbook and there is no sort of organisation? Having a boss that is incompetent, has a lackadaisical attitude, or is just never around to make things better. Yes, there are still some bosses and company owners who think their staff need no day to day instruction or encouragement. So, the first tip for running an organised and productive business is to go in and interact with your employees on a daily basis. The more that you are there to solve problems and make on the fly decisions, the more functional your company will be.
2. Have Multiple Contingency Plans
Every business owner has an exact vision of how things are to be done. You yourself may have always pictured your company being established in a busy area of London, where you would rely on foot traffic to keep profits up. Then down the line you may have done more research and found out that rents were way too high for you to rent any kind of commercial property in that prime area. Hopefully, you had a couple of backup plans in mind so that you don’t have to feel stuck or waste time figuring what you should do next. For the most important areas, business must have several backup plans.
3. Organise All Business Paperwork
A lot of business-related data and paperwork can be kept on computers nowadays. On the other hand, there are some documents and files that either can’t or shouldn’t be solely stored online. You might need to have printed forms in bulk or a copy of all receipts for easy referencing. Having these printed documents is important, but it is also critical for how they are kept organised. Some businesses need lots of tall filing cabinets so that they can keep all of their documentation stored in alphabetical order. You may just need a handful of standing file holders to be kept on your desk. Know what ways work best for your company when it comes to organising paper files and business paperwork.
4. Hire An Accountant
Money can be saved by forgoing an accountant and keeping track of all accounts payable and receivable yourself. Business owners can keep track of debts, measure their profits, and pay their taxes. Some of these same business owners are also going to miss a detail, or a deadline, or make some type of mistake that is going to cost them big time. The benefit of hiring an accountant is that you can rest assured that all of your financial responsibilities are being taken care of. Simply look at how your accountant gets things done and ask questions, so you can educate yourself over time.
5. Keeping Customers Partitioned Off From Restricted Work Areas
When you are busy taking care of things at your company on the backend you may temporarily forget about front-end business operations. Hopefully, your business has a full-time receptionist, host, greeter, or cashier to greet and direct all customers who come in. Even with that, people will become confused and sometimes they can wander down a hallway or mistakenly end up in an area that is restricted to employees only. Using retractable barriers is a sure-fire way to keep customers in the correct areas and away from employee break rooms or any other space that need to be kept separate and apart from general foot traffic. Consider them a sensible investment for any customer-facing business. You can get retractable barriers from Discount Displays who have budget options for as little as £35.64 if you don’t want to spend too much, as well as high-end items if you’re looking to impress.
6. Plan For The Future
If your company is going to be growing or changing for the better, you have to make choices that are designed to helpful for years in the future. Meeting with potential investors now will aid you in building a relationship with them. They will have time to watch your company for a while before knowing when it is a good time to make an investment. Know when and where you might start holding company events. If you think that you will be big enough to start holding holiday parties for workers in a couple of years, look into venues now and see if you can book ahead. Some of the plans that you make for your business now will save you extra work and trouble in the future. You just have to be organised enough and disciplined well in order to do these things now rather than waiting until the last minute.
7. Re-evaluate Things Every Six Months
Do you think that you have a good shot at opening a second, third, or fourth location in the coming years? Are you thinking that you could soon be able to afford hire more workers so that you are able to service more customers throughout the day? Productive companies are constantly changing and updating how things operate. While you might spend more than enough time daydreaming about how things could potentially be, physically re-evaluating your plans can provide so much more measured insight. You can re-evaluate your company’s forward trajectory with a bunch of fancy charts and statistics, or you could just break down the raw numbers. As long as there is a solid way to measure growth from today against, say, six months ago, you will know when and how to make another step forward.
8. Reward Yourself And Your Staff
For every product sold, every new client brought on board, and every milestone met, your company has to have a way to celebrate. You could go into the office and give all your staff a high five. Financial bonuses based on rewards also don’t hurt. Giving out plaques, certificates of achievement, medals, and a general round of applause are great ways to keep morale up and inspire workers to stay productive. More than anything else, this reward system is a positive thing that will keep people smiling rather than looking for a new job elsewhere. Reward yourself as well so that you can feel good about your company and what your staff is doing.
Whatever picture you have in mind for an ideal company might not be the actual way it should be run. If you are open to change, your company will find success sooner rather than later. Keeping things on a physical level organised is a great way to go, as is being a hands-on business owner. Have a professional deal with business finances and maintain order in the front of your business so customers know where to seek help. Together, these tips will help to keep your business as organised and productive as possible.