How to Run Your Growing Business More Efficiently
In the world of business, there is one thing that translates more quickly into success than any other element–efficiency. Sure, an original offering, a good idea, clever staff and good marketing are all important elements, but without the capability to run a business efficiently, profits can be lost at a frightening rate. Efficiency is all about getting the highest level of productivity with the smallest amount of expenditure in terms of time, cost and manpower. This means that an efficient business is one that sustains itself long-term, and is able to make the most of its hard-earned profits. As businesses grow, one of the most important elements is carrying that efficiency through while coping with the increased staff, workload and product, whether that means small changes like adding a new shelving system or bigger ones like adding staff.
Issue: Task Confusion
As businesses grow and change, staff often take on extra duties and tasks to accommodate the growth. A common issue faced by small to mid-sized businesses is that this can result in confusion over individual responsibilities in the workplace. This can lead to gaps in productivity and generally harm the efficiency of the office.
Solution: Role Definition
It’s crucial that growing businesses keep up to date with defining roles and job descriptions, both in terms of staff satisfaction and ensuring that all bases are covered in productivity. Making sure that employees have a clear understanding not only of what is required, but of their targets in that role as it changes is the best way to ensure efficiency in a growing business.
Issue: Workload Growth
While an increased workload and more clients is great for a business, when this happens rapidly it can create a bit of a lag in terms of staff capability.
Solution: Forward Planning and Analysis
As a business owner, being able to swiftly implement changes to help staff cope with a rapid growth in workload is the key to maintaining efficiency and productivity. It is important to be able to identify when it is necessary to bring on more staff, or to properly compensate existing staff for their added workload, in order to ensure nothing falls behind.
Issue: Storage Space
A more practical barrier to efficient business practises as businesses grow is the issue of proper storage. Growing demand means that the amount of product required can quickly out-grow the existing space that a business has, which means new solutions for storage need to be found–and fast.
Solution: Warehousing
Third-party warehousing solutions are often the perfect fit for businesses that have outgrown their current storage spaces. Pallet racking, third-party logistics and effective space management systems are the friend of the efficient business, because rather than finding an entire new office space that is able to cope with the growth of a business, a warehouse can provide a fast, simple and effective solution without disrupting the everyday workings of the business.