Is your business efficient?      Why do you need it to be? 

Managing the day to day running of your business efficiently helps you to improve your productivity,  and means that you can eliminate many of those time consuming  manual admin tasks.   This will ultimately mean that you increase your profitability.  If you’re spending less time doing daily admin, you will be able to use that time to focus on other areas of your business, this could be new business, developing new products and services, or growing your team.

How efficiently do you produce your output (products, services) in relation to the input (capital, labour and materials) required to produce it.  Do you make the best possible use of the resources available to you?

The starting point is to streamline the processes within your business.  This might be through implementing IT eg a CRM  Or AI solutions eg having a chat bot on your website to answer customer queries, rather than solely  a human manual process.

Another example could be looking at how your sales team manages their customer interactions.  If they’re currently recording conversations on paper, keeping records of conversations and agreed target in folders, I’d argue that this was not an efficient use of their time. It would be much better for the notes to be recorded in the company CRM system, or even to start a basic spreadsheet.  The information can then be readily accessed from one place by everyone within in the company who needs it.   Recording information in this way also allows for timely follow up and analysis.

As a business coach I firmly believe that every business can be made to run more efficiently by dissecting each task and rebuilding it making it as streamlined as possible, and I would encourage you to have written processes and flowcharts as a starting point.

Written processes form the back bone of every successful business.  They provide the directions for everyone to follow and can help fill in the gaps when people change roles, leave, or are absent from the business.  They also provide a step by step guide to everything that happens within the business.

There will, of course, always be times when a human being needs to make a decision, the systems can only do so much, (80/20 rule).

So here are 10 reasons your business should have written processes:-

  1. Everyone Saves time – written processes make clear what everyone’s job is within the business and how they should get it done.
  2. Vital to a consistent approach – Whether it’s sales, customer service, or billing, a written process sets out how your employees should approach the task and ensures that it is delivered  in the same way every time anyone does it.
  3. Easy to measure elements and change if necessary – written processes form the framework for everyone to work to, they also allow people to develop and change if they find a better way of doing things. You just need to make sure that the relevant process is updated to take this into account.
  4. Real Clarity on timings – As part of your business plan you’ll have put together a list of goals and with these a list of deadlines to achieve them. Written processes help you to see what’s feasible and the timescale in which you can achieve them.
  5. You can see how processes are linked together – Putting the effort in and writing down all the processes within your business enables you to see which ones are linked together. You may also be surprised to find out which processes aren’t linked to any others.  Are there any?  Are there any areas you have missed?
  1. There is clarity around who contributes what – This enables everyone to see what roles are in the business and the contribution they make, encouraging people to closely work together.
  1. Help you to highlight blockages and make changes – one of the most important reasons for going to the effort of writing down your processes.  You’ll quickly see where the blockages occur and you might even find that you’re one!  Identifying the bottlenecks means that you can make the changes that are required to speed up your processes.    Maybe you’re overcomplicating something, or missing a step.
  2. It’s easier for someone other than the usual person to hit the ground running if they have to cover – Over the time you’ve been in business I bet you’ve had people leave, go on maternity leave, or perhaps be on long term sick. Clear written processes act as the instruction, or office manual for the person covering.
  3. Nothing missed – Your written processes should cover off every aspect of your business. It’s worth getting other people within the organisation to read through and check them too. You’ll be surprised what you spot, has your office manager included a process for restarting your network if required?  Who has keys to the office?
  4. Gets everything straight in your mind – Written processes take the stresses and strains out of running your business. They provide a clear pathway for everyone to follow and will help to simplify your daily working life.   Even if you work mostly on your own you still need processes.

As you’ll see written processes are EVERYTHING

In order to move forward in your business you need to have goals, then a plan with timelines. One area of your plan could be to review all your processes.   Once your plan is sorted then ask yourself what’s the best way to deliver your plan.    In the most efficient way possible.

Need help with your business’ efficiency, or perhaps you don’t know where to start when it comes to writing down your processes?  Then let me help.  Click here to Book a Free 1 Hour Coaching Session and let’s get you on the right track.