Are you just starting out in the business world? Wondering what you can do to keep things running smoothly while continuing to increase profits over time? Here are a few good business practices to put in place.
It’s all in the details
Observe what’s working so you can do more of that. Don’t get lost in the day-to-day grind to the point that you lose sight of what is getting you results. Pay attention to changes in the numbers, and try to analyze why things are happening in a certain way. Rinse, repeat.
Apply cause and effect to things that occur in your business. There are so many different variables that can change a desired outcome. Let’s use email marketing as an example. One day you might send out a high alert email letting your people know about a sale. But because you chose to mail it out on a day when people were distracted, you didn’t get the volume of response that you expected. Solution, try again only this time be mindful of the timing.
Be aware of what you’re communicating. What gets people to take action? Pay attention to exactly what you did or said or set up in your marketing that resulted in new business. Every detail matters. What graphics did you use? What links did you share? What type of headline did you try? Take notes, and remember that small details really do matter. Once you become set on a formula that works, add it to your playbook for future marketing strategies to recycle… or even to version for use in other businesses you may run.
Customer Experience
Live the customer experience. The best way to understand what your customers are facing when they utilize your website or purchase your products for use in their own daily lives is, to actually put yourself in their shoes. In other words, be the customer. Test out your own products, and test out your digital tools if you offer these.
Turn your best success strategies into tried-and-true formulas. Once you figure out what works, refine all of the steps and details that it will take to make that same result happen again. Apply the formula to your next desired action and then follow through. Set it in stone. This is the exact process you’ll be using again and again.
Preserve any of the formulas you use in your business. This can be as simple as copying and pasting instructions and procedures into a document. You can use the same methods and practices over and over for a variety of purposes, customizing the details as you go. The best time to work on improving your processes and procedures is during down time. This is the type of background work that helps you shape the future when business gets slow.
Know where your strengths lie …and where they don’t
Outsource your major processes such as payroll or tax preparation. As chief creator and entrepreneur, it should be your ongoing goal and purpose to develop systems that work in your business, and then train other people to keep those systems going on autopilot. This frees up your time to keep new ideas flowing. Once you’ve formulated processes and procedures in your daily operation, you’ll have the ideal step-by-step instructions ready to train your employees or freelancers.
Save the more challenging problems for seasoned employees… or even for yourself. It’s much easier to hire a helper to do routine work than it is to throw someone into an on-the-fly or emergency project that requires great familiarity with how things run in your company. Plus, the issue may require sophisticated problem solving skills, not to mention creative flexibility which is better left for you as the owner and CEO.
Remember that you are in control of your own time. There will be some moments where you must act in a timely fashion. There may be a deal going through that requires you to take a series of steps, or else things could fall through. Even so, you have every other moment in a 24/7 time clock to prioritize whatever you want to do. This is the joy of having your own business!