7 Steps to Simplify Your Business

The aim of a business should always be to make money as easily as possible. Too many businesses get bogged down by the idea of creating a big brand before creating sales and a steady sales structure. Without bringing money through the door your business would not grow and you would not be able to survive. And while it comes naturally to some people, others just need a little small business support.

Ensuring your business is running smoothly is key. Simplifying your business doesn’t mean that it will be simple to succeed. But it does mean making sure what each process and action is the simplest it can be.

Below are 7 of our favourite simple business suggestions.

Always Know Priorities and Communicate Them Well

The top priority of your business should always be to make money. While a great culture and a much-loved brand is also high on the priority list, every decision you make should be aimed at making money.

But how do you do that? Lay out what your priorities are to make the success of your company become a realisation. Is your priority to sell online? Do you need to make a certain figure to break even, turn a profit or hit your figures? This should be the goal everyone’s working to, so communicate this to your employees.

Ensure you Know WHY You’re Doing Something

Linking into the above point, why are you taking the route you’ve chosen to success? Why are you marketing to millennials? Why are you keeping your business online? Why are you choosing certain channels to market your product? Knowing why you’re doing something easily allows you to define whether you’ve stuck to that plan, why you haven’t achieved or where you have found success. You can get all of the small business support you need but you need to make sensible decisions.

Identify Your Market – Nobody Else’s

When it comes to branding, there are 1 million ways to try to appeal. But most products or services, unless you are in a completely new space, are similar to others. But you still need to ensure you are marketing to the right people. Cars are a good example. Not every brand is looking to have their motors owned by every customer on the market. But by price difference, ads and style, manufacturers aim their cars towards different people. Knowing who wants your product is a strong way to focus your marketing and sales efforts.

Hire for the Right Roles – Cover your own Weaknesses

Whether you are a sole trader, a team leader or CEO, you should always ensure that when you are hiring, you think properly about the roles and the small business support you need. This may seem obvious, but be honest up front about where your weaknesses lay as the leader of the business. You’re likely to become more successful if you hire a financial team member if your strong point lays in creative or administrative fields. Understanding your weakness is one of the major parts of becoming the owner of a great business.

Concentrate on Selling to the Needs of your Customer

One mistake many businesses make is that they market how they would want to be marketed to. Selling a product or service is mostly about ensuring you know what your customer wants, and finding a way to give it to them. In many ways, it’s not about you at all. You make the product or start the service, but if the customer doesn’t know why they might need the product, then who cares? Ensure your sales and marketing channels are geared towards emphasising the plus points to your customer.

Use Tech for Small Business Support

There’s plenty of new tech out there that can help you really improve the processes of your business. While human resources will always help move your business to greater heights, you can also find computers that give you that major push, too. As you can see below, we recently published our piece on top 10 apps to make life easier for small businesses. Technology has an important role in our business lives. Using it to your advantage can revolutionise your company.

Don’t Hold Meetings That Offer no Value

This may be bottom of our list, but it is high on our agenda. A huge problem with businesses today is that there are too many meetings that are too long, and lack any real actionable endgame. While much of this is down to creative work and thinking, there is often not enough progress made in these meetings. Ensuring that this doesn’t become a problem can be tough. But encouraging people to chat in the office, layout thoughts and ideas as they go, means that there’s less need to ‘filler’ meetings. When employees do meet, they will be more up to date with projects and will spend their time on discussing things that move your business forward.

Direct365 are the experts in small business support. We cover the business essential products and services, so that you can focus on running your company and making better, more successful decisions. Our business offer the best rates, services and customer experience on the market. Interested in a quote or two? Contact us directly on 0800 612 9258.