There are always new products coming on to the market that will help you streamline your company’s communications and take your brand to the next level.

Small businesses are now able to operate in a way that only big businesses have been able to operate previously. The problem is, often it is after a business has already started to grow that they realise they don’t have the right systems in place to support the growth.

In essence, there is no time like today to start organising your current systems and processes so that your transition to new technology, systems and internal processes is as stress free as possible.

If there was only 1 piece of advice I could give someone it would be to SIMPLIFY!

The bigger your business becomes the more simplified your internal procedures need to be, this will prevent you becoming overwhelmed and unable to keep track of your workflow.

How To Get Started

HERE ARE SOME TIPS TO GET YOU STARTED

Storing Client Information

• Make sure all of your information is stored in as few places as possible.
• If you don’t yet have a CRM (Customer Relationship Management system) Store all your client data in your contacts and/or a spreadsheet. This will ensure that all your client information can be easily exported when you want to transfer it to a CRM in the future.
• Tag your contacts. Set up tags such as ‘client’, ‘old client’, ‘referral source’ and ‘sub-contractor’. This will help with email marketing, company reporting and future CRM implementation.

You might not think this is important when you only have a handful of clients but the more contacts you get the more you will be grateful you will be that this has been done.

Workflow

As you work through your tasks, write down a procedure for everything you do. You should have an overall workflow and a breakdown of each individual task.

This is done for two reasons. Firstly, by writing down your workflow it is easier to see inefficiencies that sometimes go unnoticed when we are used to doing the task personally. As the old saying goes ‘you can’t always see the wood for the trees’ therefore this method will help you to see a high level view of your workflow.

Secondly, having written procedures is essential and will save time and stress when training new staff. Each procedure should be stored in a central location which is accessible by all staff members. This ensures that everyone follows the required procedure exactly, reducing the risk of errors.

A Note From Me

This year my goal is to educate business owners on the types of technology and systems that are available for small business.

Implementing the right systems will reduce the amount of time spent on administration and internal processes.

 In next month’s newsletter I will be covering systems in more detail but please feel free to call me if you would like further information.

 

Kind regards

Vicky