As a business owner it can be easy to identify that change must happen, however determining which changes make sense for your operations and your cashflow is significantly more difficult. With a different business trend popping up seemingly daily, trying to keep up with the overall industry changes can be overwhelming. When it comes time to make some final decisions you are going to be thankful that you took the time to weigh the pros and cons of said trends. Understanding that there is no magic formula and that solutions are not one-size-fits-all can save you both time, and money.
Optimizing Technology
The best part about the size of the tech industry, is the options that such a large arena provides you. When you are looking at business operations with an eye for determining how to streamline and create efficiencies you can expect to find options as small as smartphone apps and as large as adding in virtual assistants to help serve customers. Technology can also play a large part in potential employees deciding if your small business is the right home for them.
While some candidates will be turned off by high tech business models, others will see this as an indicator that your company is capable of change and is willing to adapt with the times. This does not apply exclusively to companies that have solely in-person team members. Logistics companies that have multiple autonomous positions such as drivers needed for long-haul trucking might also factor in things like GPS technologies and remote access to management when they determine if your company is right for them.
In many cases, an improvement of technology will require an investment from you, the business owner. While this can be a turn-off, the long-term benefits from this investment are likely going to assist with cost savings down the road. Technology and efficiency are almost synonymous and even the most detail-oriented operations model is never going to beat the capabilities of technology.
Innovate
Collaboration is one of the best perks of having a team in roles that are all focused on business growth. Assumingly, part of why each of these team members was hired in was because you as the business owner identified within them something that they would provide to help grow your business. Look to your team to help you generate ideas for developing and creating new revenue streams and then allow them to collaborate with you on integrating the most suitable ones into your business operations.
Measure Performance
You must be able to measure and analyze your company performance honestly and objectively to be able to identify the areas that need to be reworked. This applies to the performance of both the business and the individual employees. If you do not have a process in place to keep your finger on the pulse of productivity than you are inadvertently stunting business growth. Identify goals and determine what you want to accomplish that will help you weed out processes and positions that do not support these goals.
