As a small business owner it is important to have your business priorities straight. While most say every business’s top priority is to turn profit, the other priorities you have for your business will help define how you actually do that. In fact, by just having the one priority – making money – you are limiting your business and neglecting to give it the direction it needs to move forward. Take the time to consider a more detailed list of business priorities.
Growth Priorities
In the quest for more money, typically businesses need to have growth as a priority. But, if you haven’t defined the type of growth you desire, you are not on the road to success. Ask yourself these questions:
- Do you want to grow your business to include a larger geographical area? With the right technology, you can do so without opening a new location.
- Are you striving for more customers? Do you have a lead generation plan in place?
- Would you ideally want to sell more to the same customers? Create an upselling strategy that your sales team can use.
- Do you want to diversify your products and services, so you offer more? Find out what your clients need and offer it.
Efficiency Priorities
Another way to increase profits and productivity is to establish priorities that focus on the efficiency of your business. Again, it takes more than simply saying, “We will work more efficiently.” Define the ways your business will be efficient.
- Do you want to cut costs by streamlining your customer service? You can with a virtual phone system like Halloo.
- Do you want to increase efficiency in your personnel? You can do so by cutting down on duplicate staffing and by outsourcing select tasks.
- Can you automate certain tasks? Take a look at the latest technology to make your business more efficient.
Staffing Priorities
An effective way to help your business perform better is by focusing on your staffing. Take the time to evaluate how you are allocating your human resources.
- Do you have the very best staff in place? Are they well suited to the position they fill? Have they been equipped with the right tools to do the job?
- Are performance reviews of your staff regularly done and information shared in order to help them improve their work performance?
- Have you provided the kind of work environment that boosts morale and productivity?
By taking the time to thoroughly evaluate the priorities your business has and just how you are going about meeting those priorities, you will find that things start to take a turn for the better. A prioritized, well thought-out plan will produce much better results than just dreaming about how you’d like to see things go in your business.