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Last Updated on September 8, 2016 by Work In My Pajamas
Is your company running efficiently, but you think there’s still room for improvement? Perhaps your startup is currently running in smoke and you can’t find a fire extinguisher or a hydrant to put out the flames? Regardless of where your business currently stands, below are five ways on how to gauge current operational efficiency and, subsequently, repair holes in your business approach.
Encourage Strong Communication
Clear verbal and written communications within the workplace minimize human errors and poor decisions, which cost your startup money and time. As a general rule of thumb, employees should be encouraged to converse face to face. While email or personal messages are a quick way to exchange information, it oftentimes leads to inaccurate data or longer time for information exchange due to incomplete sentences and non-understandable shortcuts. Face-to-face conversations lay out a more conducive platform for answering queries, solving problems, and clarifying important details.
Trim Costs Where Possible
Operational costs should be divided into fixed and variable expenses. Fixed expenses will include monthly lease payments, management paychecks, and utilities. Variable expenses will include marketing, ecommerce platform maintenance, inventory, office supplies, etc. Lay it out in a spreadsheet so you can easily pinpoint the expenses that are unnecessary and, if removed, will not affect your business. Bundling your internet, television, telephone, and security infrastructure needs to a provider like Reserve Telecommunications, is a great way to reduce costs without downgrading service quality and company capabilities.
Support Your Concepts with Numbers
You don’t have to be a mathematical genius to know when numbers don’t add up. Note that a business plan is both qualitative and quantitative in nature. It’s not always about identifying your business’ goals and mission, but interpreting real-world data from performance metrics. Begin writing concepts, and then move towards making sense of it from a financial standpoint. Every decision you make has a number equivalent. Make sure these numbers are as accurate as possible.
Be a Proactive Leader
To make sure your company is running smoothly, don’t just delegate the tasks of gathering data and overseeing daily operations to trusted employees. Make it a point to gather information yourself through extensive research, resolve problems through participation and collaboration with employees, and so forth.
A company that is running seamlessly doesn’t necessarily mean one that doesn’t encounter trouble and is perfect in all its decisions and methods. Instead, work towards a startup that can effectively resolve problems while using minimal resources in the process.
