Small business owners are often aware of inefficiencies in their organizations. However, due to a large number of responsibilities and other priorities, these inefficiencies are often placed on the back burner.
Suboptimal processes and operations can significantly hinder your organization’s growth, so improving efficiency at your small business is a time-sensitive matter. In this guide, we’ll discuss four tips you can implement to improve efficiency at your small business, increase your revenue, and minimize wasted staff time. Let’s dive in!
1. Identify key areas of improvement.
As we mentioned, you likely already have a rough idea of areas that could be more efficient for your small business. This is the time to sit down and thoroughly consider all the areas that could be improved so you know what to focus on.
Generally, small businesses may need to improve efficiency in the following areas:
- Administrative tasks, such as invoicing, scheduling, or data entry
- Inventory and supply chain, such as overstocking or poor supplier coordination
- Financial management, including budgeting, billing, and bookkeeping
- Customer relationship management, such as inconsistent follow-ups and poor lead tracking
- Marketing and promotions, including sending messages through email, social media, and text messages
- Project and task management, such as task prioritization and delegation
Through this process, you might uncover more areas of improvement than you initially thought. Don’t let this discourage you! Approach these issues with a growth mindset, where you see each challenge as an opportunity to improve your business for future success. This mindset shift will help you stay positive while tackling your business’s inefficiencies.
2. Provide proper onboarding and training.
When most small businesses start, they’re a one-person show. The owner takes on all the tasks associated with running the organization, from financial tracking to serving customers. At a certain point, most owners realize that they can’t do it alone, which is when they hire staff members for the necessary support.
Provide proper onboarding and training to set your new employees up for success and avoid inefficiencies in business workflows. Here are a few tips for doing so:
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- Create a structured onboarding plan that covers all the topics you’ll cover and the length of the process.
- Break training into digestible chunks, such as by grouping similar tasks or workflows and going over one training module at a time.
- Distribute training materials and resources, including handouts with instructions about general workflows and resources on accessibility and ethics.
- Offer continuous feedback and support—be sure to provide a mix of positive and constructive feedback so new employees know exactly how they’re performing.
Properly onboarded and trained employees will be confident and knowledgeable in their roles, leading to more efficient workflows and less confusion over how to perform tasks. You can also use onboarding as a way to launch your employee engagement strategies, ensuring staff members feel appreciated and reducing the cost of employee turnover.
3. Improve workplace communication.
Clear communication speeds up decisions and reduces costly mistakes between employees, vendors, and other stakeholders. It’s easy to assume that everyone’s on the same page, but without proper communication and regular check-ins, you may find that business operations have derailed or are proceeding differently than your expectations.
Here are a few tips for streamlining your business communications:
- Use a centralized communication tool. Solutions like Slack or Microsoft Teams enable your employees to contact each other with minimal hassle.
- Stress the importance of regular team check-ins and updates. Update employees on changes or new priorities and ask them about any challenges they’ve been facing to stay informed on your business’s general performance.
- Foster an open and transparent culture. Help employees feel comfortable coming to you with any concerns, suggestions, questions, or challenges. Address these in a positive way to build up an open and communicative company culture.
Difficult conversations are a part of running a small business. For the good of your business, you need to be prepared for high-stakes dialogues with employees and stakeholders. Additionally, your employees must be equipped to handle interactions with irate customers or uncompromising vendors.
Improving communication doesn’t just boost efficiency at small businesses. It also provides a valuable opportunity for you and your employees to practice your communication skills in lower-stakes situations, empowering you to manage difficult situations smoothly.
4. Purchase business software.
Software is designed to streamline workflows for all types of organizations. Once you’ve pinpointed areas of inefficiency, you can determine if software will help you increase productivity in that area. Then, you can start searching for a solution that suits your unique needs.
Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to help you determine what solution to purchase:
- What problem am I trying to solve?
- What type of software corresponds to the issues I’m experiencing?
- Can I configure the solution to meet my business’s unique needs?
- Does the solution I’m considering integrate with my existing tools?
- What measures does the software provider take to ensure my data is secure?
- Is the software user-friendly or easy to pick up?
- Can the software grow with my business?
- What is the total cost of ownership?
- What kind of customer support or training is provided?
- What do other users or customers say about the software?
- Is there a trial or demo available?
Ideally, you would purchase a comprehensive solution specifically made for your business’s needs. For instance, a massage practice would purchase dedicated massage therapy software. According to MassageBook, these solutions generally include massage-specific features such as electronic health records, SOAP note annotation tools, and scheduling and booking capabilities.
When you choose software built for your industry, you and your employees gain access to tools made specifically for your needs. You won’t need to worry about getting creative to fit your processes to the solution.
However, this isn’t always an option for small businesses due to limited budgets. In that case, purchase single solutions that fit your most immediate needs. Or, you could take re:Charity’s advice and look for free tools that serve as a band-aid solution while you save up to make a larger purchase.
