Running & scaling a business is never an easy task. However, it’s important to have a very solid foundation of business practices as the base for your company, to make the task less challenging. There are a number of things a business owner has to take into account while focusing on the best ways of running a business. Here are some pointers that will help.
Pointers to Follow
#1 Setting Expectations
Setting the proper team expectations & accountability is one of the most important aspects in a business. It’s crucial for you to bring all your managers & executives together at least twice a month, for a meeting to discuss every department, their accomplishments and their challenges. It’s also time for all the departments to give their feedback to the management team. The idea is that everyone leaves the meetings with certain follow-up tasks.
#2 Keep Your Ego Aside
Many business owners and managers feel that they have some sure-shot methods of doing things. What most individuals fail to take into account is that there are just too many variable in the picture including the employees and the dynamics at work in the company itself. Solid operations always come from business owners who have the courage to admit if & when their systems fail, that they have the good sense to keep their ego aside and make the effort to improve.
#3 Clear Processes
It’s crucial for a business owner to set very clear processes in his/her company and every member of the team has to understand these processes. When a task has to be completed, there’s a very clear funnel & order of operations which have to be followed. It improves efficiency & reduces the chances of botching information & having things go awry.
#4 Solid Foundation
If you want to build a solid business, you have to start from the base up. This means, you have to build a very solid and capable core team- one that has the skills and is dedicated enough to understand the goals of the business and your vision. This team has to share your drive & ambition to accomplish.
#5 Be Open to Feedback
No manager is perfect and regardless of how much exposure and experience you have, there is always scope to learn and improve. If you want to build very solid processes for your small business, there will be a lot of aligning to do. As you scale your business, you will have to delegate. This also means that you are not as close to the core operations as you used to be. This means, you will have to be open to feedback from your team members, ensure you are addressing all the inefficiencies and making every effort to make changes and grow as a manager.
#6 Maintain Transparency
If you want to build a solid business, it’s important that you maintain transparency in your dealing with your team members. Cross-checks and social collaboration tools as well as breaking-down those silos are the different ways of ensuring that every operation is working at optimal levels for your unique business needs. Operations must be communicated, tested & approved across all departments, levels & operations.
#7 Documentation
When you provide your team concise & clear documentation; there is very little scope for miscommunication, confusion or error. These aspects tend to be the biggest time-wasters in any company- large or small. When you have all your documentation in place, it becomes easier for you to onboard new recruits & saves your business from relying only on a single person.
Maintain Flexibility
Every business practice you set should be scalable. Just as these address the current pain points in your organisation; it’s crucial that they are specially built to handle any changes that might surface in the future. You must have the vision to look ahead & plan for potential changes in your business; that is the only way to ensure that the best business practices you are following are not becoming redundant. If you want to build a solid company, focus on process, your people and your product and you will be unstoppable!!
