What are some business changes that you can make to help you add real value in areas that need it?
Value-adding to your business can bring so many benefits. And not only to help your business grow, but also for your employees as well!
The 7 changes we’ll talk about more are:
- Renew your business plan or goals
- Upgrade your business software
- Improve your processes
- Increase staff training
- Increase self-training
- Change the business culture
- Take a holiday
When you look at the 7 business changes you can make, you might ask yourself “Who’s got the time or money to do these”?
Or you’re looking at number 7 and thinking “I don’t have time for a holiday”, which is a problem!
Let’s dive in to see what each of these steps mean and see why they do make such a big difference.
Renew Your Business Plan or Goals
When you started your business, did you even have a business plan or did it develop as you went along?
If you did plan one, how far into the future did you go, and you have achieved all your goals, what next?
While your business is running, it’s always a good idea to take a look at what your goals are, and re-plan if necessary.
- Have you achieved your goals before expectations?
- What are your plans to continue growth?
- If you haven’t met your goals, what are the reasons why and how can you change it?
By taking a look at your business plan, you can regroup and focus on what the next step of the business can be. That could be further expansion, or consolidation in some areas.
Upgrade Your Business Software
Business changes and software upgrades occur regularly, or should do. They’re only worthwhile if you’re using the new features and knowing what’s new.
Are you the owner or manager and assume that you know everything that might be causing your staff pain? Running a staff survey to find out what others think might be worthwhile.
Check in with your staff who actually use the products and see if they are having issues.
It might be time that you replace your business tools. Without knowing what’s there, you could be missing out!
A product like Accentis Enterprise replaces many software tools for a single product. ERP software will make your business more efficient than ever before.
It’s surprising what’s possible and how much money can be saved with a new solution.
Improve Your Business Processes
Have your processes evolved to cover up shortfalls of your current software? Are some processes in a state of flux because you’re burdened with playing catch up?
Changing your goals or upgrading your software can reduce these issues almost instantly.
You should also consider each process on a regular basis however. Remove any processes that double-up or cross-over skills as that saves time and money.
Without adjusting anything as you’ve grown, you might be doing things much harder than they need to be.
What was efficient when you started your business could now be holding you back. It’s a great time for a change.
Increase Staff Training
Are you utilising all your employee’s skills?
Many employees will improve their skills and knowledge over time. You can use this to your advantage by offering training in-house or external that they can attend.
Not only will training improve their skill-set, but this benefits your business too. An increase in capabilities with the same number of employees helps everyone.
Employees are usually very keen to learn more skills. Showing more people how to perform more than one role helps when staff are away for any reason.
Other employees can step up and keep the business running, making a smooth operation easy.
Staff training increases their self-worth and improves morale as they can feel empowered. They are more likely to understand the goals of a business, and work towards them.
Increase Self-training
Do you know all there is to know because you’re the boss? We bet you don’t, but that’s OK, you don’t need to know everything.
But as your employees can improve your business with new skills, so can you!
With new skills under your belt, you might see other opportunities for your business that you can go for.
You might also see a trend, and can pivot your business before the rest of the market catches up.
New skills means a new you, and you’ll be better informed to make smarter decisions.
Knowledge is power, and with that power comes opportunities to improve.
The Business Change Culture
Changing the culture of a business can be difficult. Maybe a full-scale change isn’t needed, only a few small ideas can be introduced.
Business culture is a developing trait of the business itself. It’s dependant on the owners, managers, employees, environment and more.
Other influencing factors are religious beliefs, sexuality, personalities and celebrations. It’s exciting to see a group of people and how they interact to make a business successful.
Changing the business culture should include everyone.
It should be well intoned and relevant to your business and industry. It should also take into account the many different people within the organisation.
Small steps can make a big impact with repetitive events, such as birthdays. How they’re celebrated can give staff things to look forward to.
Culture is also created by social activities outside of work. A regular meet-up to wind down together can increase teamwork in the workplace.
A solid business culture helps every employee learn more about their fellow workmates. It helps promote inclusion and acceptance, and make “work” a better place to be.
Take a Holiday
Taking a holiday away from your business is not only healthy for you. It’s also good for your employees too.
As a business owner, taking a break from the office can give you distance and perspective. It allows you to reflect on all the other points above and see how you as a business, are travelling.
Take a real holiday. Don’t just take a few days and still check your email every day at home. Leave work alone and trust your staff.
You have spent all this time training them, building up the culture, and improving their tools.
Give them the trust you know you can and take a break. They might surprise you by stepping into situations they handle with ease.
When you come back, you will feel refreshed and can think more clearly about the direction your will take. You might have an idea for some wild business changes that need to be fleshed out.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, running a business is never easy, but it doesn’t have to be hard either.
There are many different and varied solutions to a lot of problems and we’ve only touched on a few.
One of the main points we’ve covered in almost each section was stepping back for a bit. Constant reviewing of your business can help improve things much faster.
If you want to know more about ERP software for your business, give us a shout and let us know what you need.
Are you ready to make more money for your business?
Click here to start your journey today!