Businesses today are abandoning legacy technologies in favour or high-tech software solutions, and efficient business practices to increase their productivity and revenues. It’s a necessity really, if a business today wants to be competitive in it’s marketplace it must embrace the changes to keep up. This might require some investment initially, but the reality is that overall it provides businesses with a nest gain. In this article we look at some of the ways to make your business more efficient.
Reassess Your Business Plan
If your business is already up and running chances are you already have a business plan that outlines your business goals and projected growth. If you don’t have one it’s a good idea to draw one up as soon as possible – having a business plan in place could be the difference between success and failure. If you do have a business plan then you need to keep it under review to make sure that you are on track to achieving your goals.
It’s advisable to reassess your business plan at least once every quarter to check the viability of the business and make any changes if necessary. Don’t think of your business plan as a one time thing, only neede to get a bank loan. In reality, it’s a road map for your business and can need to be checked from time-to-time.
Outsource Your Non-Core Activities
If you are running your own small business it can be tempting to do everything by yourself, after all it is your enterprise and you know best. But this is rarely the case, even for small businesses and solo entrepreneurs. It is unlikely that you will have expertise in all the necessary departments, those are: payroll, HR, accounting, administration, and marketing.
These days it is thought to be far more efficient to outsource non-core activities to experts for a nominal fee. The theory is that the money you save in time and inefficiency is usually worth the premium paid to outsourced experts. One way to build more efficiency into your business model is to partner with outsource companies for certain tasks and broker a better deal with them.
Use An Efficient Supply Chain
If your business requires a supply chain to ship products worldwide it’s important that you find one that’s both efficient and right for your business. If you are running an eCommerce shop, for instance, it might be cost effective to store your products at home in the garage or somewhere locally but this can be a very time consuming way of operating, not to mention the damage that might be caused to your goods.
It’s much better to use a third-party warehouse in this situation. They have become more common in recent years with the rise of eCommerce and other online industries. Third party warehouses specialize in storing your goods safely and shipping them when necessary, all you have to do is give them the order and the process starts moving like a well-oiled machine. Third party warehouses use companies such as Palletways to improve their efficiency.
Implement Analytics
The world of business has moved forward considerably in the last ten years and a big part of the change is down to data analytics. The technology has emerged into the mainstream and is responsible for reducing companies’ outgoings and making their budgets go further with laser-focused marketing strategies that target relevant audiences instead of broad swathes of the population.
But marketing is not the only way that analytics makes companies more efficient, the workings of businesses themselves can be assessed using this technology. A company that operates worldwide, for instance, can learn when the best times are to service their customers or win contracts. In-house, analytics can assess the performance of staff and efficiency of certain processes.
Automate Your Processes
Automation is now a top priority for most businesses looking to improve efficiency and increase revenue. There are many processes within a business that can be automated: customer relationships, sales, analytics, planning, IT services, networks, as well as email and marketing. The more processes that are automated the more your company will save in time and labor; this eventually translates into higher productivity and increased revenue.
And if you’re thinking that automation might spell the end of your workforce then think again. The excellent thing about automation is that it takes the more menial tasks out of the hands of paid workers and frees them up to work on higher level tasks. Why pay a salary to a human being when high-tch software can do the basics for you? In this way the salary you pay to workers has more purchase as their skills can be utilized elsewhere in the business.
