Business preventative maintenance: Stop growing pains before they start
Rapid business growth can be a good problem to have. When business is booming, as the saying goes, it feels like all your hard work has finally paid off. But, it becomes less so when your business has problems keeping up with the expansion. The hard work only gets harder.
Growing pains can often be missed until its too late, so it’s important to try and spot these issues as early as possible. It’s pretty common for a business (small businesses in particular) to experience any or all of the following:
Simply put, there aren’t enough hands on deck. Most of the staff are doing the tasks of two or more people at any given time and are stretched thin in terms of availability and flexibility. This is one of the harder ones to counteract as it’s difficult know how much to increase your workforce until you know what capacity you lack, but starting the process sooner will mean less consequences later.
This goes hand-in-hand with the issue above. Once you realize you need more help, it’s a challenge to bring new people on board when you’re too busy trying to keep the business afloat with your current team.
It’s an unfortunate result of being busier than ever that negatively affects everyone’s work-life balance. If left for too long, it can contribute to the first problem above as individuals will choose to move on rather than subject themselves to increasing levels of stress.
Increased business often comes with new challenges and requirements. Expansion can lead to new licenses and regulations and changing processes. And, if you’re already experiencing any of the above issues, this one can only compound the problem.
Of course, identifying problems ad nauseam doesn’t really help solve them. While it does give structure to what needs to be addressed, your best plan of action will always be that proverbial ounce of prevention. And prevention comes in the form of setting up processes for regular tasks. What’s more, using an automated process system like Slipstream can help set any business up for success.
Here’s how.
This ensures that when your teams grow, you still have the capacity to train everyone effectively. An automated system that helps guide new employees every step of the way through the process means that nothing is rushed or overlooked. Now you have full-fledged new talent that is enrolled for payroll, benefits, and retirement plans and ready to start work with markedly less effort than it would have taken to do it manually.
Having a set process in place makes training even easier! It ensures that everyone (new or established) is doing the same thing the same way. Every time. And with clearly defined expectations as to when the process is considered complete.
Automating processes takes a lot of mental load off of everyone on the team. It allows for less time spent tracking the next steps that need to be followed. That means there’s more time and energy can be spent on other activities that keep your business’s interested parties interested, like building and growing positive relationships with customers and suppliers.
With Slipstream, processes have the flexibility to be edited in real time. As needs change, you’ll need it to be able to put updated processes into use immediately. Even if the new processes need refining and alteration to become they are the best they can be, the capability of editing on the fly makes this amazingly simple.
While there are other methods of addressing these issues without the use of Slipstream, they may not be as easy to use and implement. However, you can decide that for yourself by using our free, zero-commitment 30-day trial. Give it a try and see how Slipstream can help you prevent growing pains before they hurt your business. Let’s make the way you do business better together!
For a limited time, we're offering an extended free trial (6 months!) to 5 businesses who participate in our beta program. Our team will help identify, document, and systemize your core processes. Message us or submit your company at www.goSlipstream.app/beta