Whether you have been running a business for months or for years, it is important to know that there is always room for change and growth. Making improvements to what you do and to how you do it can help you to build a more sustainable business. An improved business is one that has the potential to both survive and thrive. However, now that you know this, where do you start with business improvement, and what should be your first priority?
Why Business Improvement is Important
To begin with, you need to know why business improvement is important and key to your business. Appreciating what you can get out of the process and also knowing how it can help you grow as a professional is important. If you cannot see the true and full value out of business improvement, then you may well find that you never get as much out of it as you can. So, before you go any further, stop and think about what business improvement means to you and your business, and also think about what it looks like.
Improving Business Practice
From the day you started your business, you may have followed the same business practices – however, do you know how efficient and effective they are? You could be losing a lot of time and financial resources by following outdated or slow processes and practices. Being prepared to embrace new ways of working and even looking at moving roles and responsibilities can help you elevate your business practices. There are lots of processes and practices you do both regularly (and on an ad-hoc) basis, so be sure to start with just a few changes at any given time.
Talking to Employees
As well as reaching out to customers and users of your business, you also need to focus on your employees. They should be at the heart of your business, and there may be improvements that can be made to how they work, or where they work. Improvements can be made that will benefit the well-being of your employees. For instance, do employees feel that they have enough time off, do they feel that they are being overworked, or perhaps even underpaid? When you get direct input from your employees and you work on giving them better and more, you can then be sure you have more helping hands on the side of your business.
Create Better Workplaces and Environments
The environment and workplace that your business operates in are important, and sometimes they can be mistakenly overlooked. Evaluating what you are offering in your workplace and seeing how you can make improvements is crucial. For example, your employees may want more facilities or better facilities. The canteen may not offer enough food and beverage options. There may not be enough inclusivity in the workplace or environment. Or, they may have electric vehicles they may wish to charge while at work. You may be asking yourself when and why to install an EV charging station, and the answer to this question should be made up of two parts. The first part is to keep employees and visitors to your business happy and content. The answer should also be to show that you are a forward-thinking and caring business.
Feedback From Customers and Users of Your Business
Those that use your business regularly will be able to give you guidance that you should follow. Feedback from those customers and users of your business will help give you an insight that you may not have been wise to before. They can often see things differently from how you see them, and their honest feedback can help you grow, change and alter what you do. Customers will tell you what they like and what they don’t like, and from here, you can see where improvements can be made.
Having an Action Strategy
To improve your business and give more back, you need an action strategy to follow. Change and growth do not just happen. Having an action strategy in place to follow will allow you to see where improvement can take place and why it must take place. When you are creating plans, you need to think about the immediate future as well as those longer-term goals. Business improvement can take months and not weeks to implement, so don’t try and rush changes. Instead, try and focus on sustainable change and growth. An action strategy will allow you to focus your time, energy, and resources on the areas of your business that need the most immediate help and assistance.
