It’s a well-known fact that time is money, so when it comes to your small business, money is going to be your top priority. It makes sense, then, that you would want to ensure that you don’t waste time during working hours. As you are the business owner, you’ll always be looking for ways that you can make your business more efficient. Look around you and your employees right now; just because you’re all sat in the office, doesn’t mean you are getting much done in the way of work. Being stuck with seemingly endless emails, meetings and continual interruptions to your business day can feel frustrating; like you’re working eight hours a day for no results. The time to get any actual work done feels like it won’t ever happen, and it’s for this reason that you have to start looking at ways that you can make your business more efficient.
Companies all over the world are adopting more LEAN methods when it comes to wastage, as it makes sense that they would want to spend as much time as possible getting things done effectively. Even the smallest things can add up for a business and a business that isn’t cutting down the wasted time as much as possible is one that could see themselves being beaten out by their competitors. Some companies choose to go for ERP implementation to ensure that their systems aren’t wasting time; when you have multiple software systems running for different departments, communication becomes confusing and time is wasted trying to iron out what’s what. It’s important for each department of your company to be able to communicate effectively to cut down time spent working out problems and enhance the time spent working. If you are curious about knowing whether your business is one of those that is wasting time, check out these ways that many businesses are wasting time:
Outdated Processes
Many companies start their companies with a certain way of doing things, which is normal. The thing is, processes that were relevant at the beginning of your company won’t necessarily be relevant now. A lot of businesses that are established today have had their beginnings at a time where paper-based processes were the best thing for them. Today, we have the technology to use less paper and therefore make less mistakes. Businesses should evolve with the times and update their processes as they go, so that their company can be one that is efficient.
Communication
Email is a wonderful thing, as is online chat. Your company could be one that utilises internal chat to discuss instant issues. However, while these methods are technically fast, they aren’t necessarily going to be quicker for your company. It is ten times faster to walk to the desk of your colleague and get an answer to your question there and then. It would also help to have a system like Trello in place, where your department can gather projects and discuss them in one place with updates posted.
Supporting Old Systems
Your company would likely be supported by older systems from the beginning and you’ll likely be putting money into keeping those systems going. You can waste an awful lot of time maintaining old systems that are costing you more of your budget. Drop the old systems, invest in new ones and you could cut costs, cut time wasted and do better for your business.
Outsourcing
One of the best ways that companies are efficient is outsourcing their departments. IT agencies are a great addition to a business, because while the IT team is outside of the physical office, they are working exclusively for you to ensure that your systems are up to date and supportive in the way that they should be. Entrepreneurs like to think they are brilliant at everything, and while this may be true for a lot of pieces of the business, a jack of all trades is a master of none. There’s a very natural desire to want everything to be under your watchful eye, but this may not be the best thing for your business. If you can’t see where you should outsource in your business, you should consult a business manager who can come in and independently review your company for you and teach you where you should outsource. Outsourcing to the experts in marketing, IT and even a virtual assistant could reduce your overall costs and help your business to develop at a much faster rate.
Automation
If your business is not automating a majority of its processes, you are behind. Social media updates, company blogs and other ad-hoc processes that happen in your business need to be analysed to see whether you can get these automated and save yourself some time.
Meetings
1pm pow-wow with the partners. 2pm Skype call with suppliers. 9am coffee meeting with marketing. How many of these meetings that you hold every day are necessary to your company? Meetings always seem like a good way to get your head together with other members of the company and hash out plans for the next step, but if you’re spending your whole day in meetings, when is the actual work getting done? All meetings should have a very clear purpose, as you can really put yourself behind if you don’t ensure that the agenda is stuck to. It’s easy to veer off on a tangent, so you should instead go for Skype talk time instead of a meeting in the boardroom; it means you won’t be wasting time over biscuits and coffee.
As a business, you want to maximise your time as much as possible, so do your best to comb through your processes and make your business work for you. This way, you will be minimising waste and maximising profits where possible. Your company is only going to benefit from being more efficient, so it’s time to sit down and look at what you can change and how you can change it. Take a moment and make it work!
