Starting a business is one of the greatest challenges most people will take on in their lives. Running out of money stops many would-be entrepreneurs in their tracks, and you always seem to need more than you think you do. Even for the experienced, transitioning a business plan into action can have more bumps in the road than anticipated.
Naturally, you’ll have plenty to worry about past opening day too. It can take months before you finally start turning a profit, and it’ll probably feel like you’re treading water for a while. You have to keep in mind that making your business successful is a long-term project, and there are several things you can do to make things run more smoothly.
Retain Your Employees
It’s hard to find good employees, and turnover is a problem every business inevitably faces. If your turnover rates are high, however, you’ll be wasting time and money hiring and training new ones, and you probably can’t afford this if you’re a small business owner. That’s why it’s important to keep up best practices during your hiring process and to make your team members feel valued. Offering a fair benefits package and setting clear guidelines for growth opportunities are great ways to do this.
Use Inventory Management Software
It’s possible to track your inventory manually, but it can be a time-consuming and tedious process, and your efforts could be better focused elsewhere. It’s far more efficient to use inventory tracking software so you’ll know exactly what items are selling and when you’ll need to order more. You can even automate this process, and some programs offer drop shipping options, meaning you can have goods shipped directly to your customers from the manufacturer. Connecting this software to a point of sale system makes it easier than ever to track your profits and expenses.
Offer Excellent Customer Service
Customers are the most important resource for any business, and you need to make sure you’re treating them as such. Future buying decisions are heavily impacted by customer service, and this can be good or bad for your business. While most customers won’t formally complain to you after having a bad customer service experience, they will tell their friends (or followers online), and this can tank your reputation.
A great way to offer stand-out customer service is by using omnichannel routing in your contact center. Intelligent routing options use AI or other automated systems to reach quick resolutions for simple inquiries, and they’ll route customers to the most qualified agents for complex ones. Best of all, customers have the convenience of using their preferred method (voice, text, email, SMS, etc.) when contacting your company.
Promote Your Business
There’s no getting around the fact that you’re going to have to put in some marketing effort, but you don’t have to break the bank to do so. Cheaper methods like email marketing and customer engagement on social media can work wonders. You can also attend small business conventions in your local area or do cross-promotion with other businesses. You can also get some free word-of-mouth advertisement as more people learn about you.
Invest in SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for any successful business. You need to rank high in search results to get organic traffic, and using SEO services like this Denver SEO expert is one of the best ways to boost your rankings. They can help you with keyword research, local search, link building, content creation, and more to boost your site up the organic search results. They can even help you with your web design efforts, which are a lot of work on your own.
Use OKRs
OKRs (objectives and key results) is a framework created by Andy Grove, co-founder of Intel, that communicates a company’s strategic plan to employees and measures progress toward achieving it. The benefits of using OKRs include increased focus, improved employee engagement, and transparency.
Objectives are the main goals for the current quarter or year, and it’s usually best to focus on just a few at a time. Key results are numerical values that track progress toward each objective. Using OKRs software makes goal setting easier than ever, and strategic objectives can be sent to all team members along with instructions on how to achieve them. Companies that use OKRs include Google, Amazon, Uber, and Microsoft, and they can help you greatly expand your business.