Author: Vikas Rana
Two business in the same niche. One growing at the rate of 200% and other not growing at all. Both started at the same time with similar resources. So what went wrong for the business not growing at all? In this article, we will try to explore the reasons.
For many of you whose businesses are not growing at all or not growing at your preferred rate must be keen to know the reasons behind it. Right? Don’t worry, there are myriad of businesses who are stuck in a rut and wants to know the ways to get out of it. After reading this article you will get to know the reasons and you will find some effective solutions.
Firstly, there are many business owners who never made any plan at all to grow their business and they are simply complaining and wondering why it is not happening. Every business is different but when you are at an early stage and starting a business as an individual, you need to work on creating systems in your business. The problem is that your business depends on you because of your unique skills and experience. To grow exponentially, your business should depend on the systems not on you or anyone else for that matter.
You need to start creating documents such as business plans, proposals, templates and plans. You should create systems in your business so that your business runs on autopilot when you are not available to work. Find out those hidden admin/ repetitive tasks which you should not be doing and allocate them to someone. You should be working on higher strategies rather than small admin tasks.
Some examples of creating systems:
- Email systems. Use a schedule to check email, write emails, and file emails.
- Hiring systems. Follow a consistent process for finding, screening, hiring, and onboarding new hires.
- Cleaning systems. Develop a routine that allows you or a third-party service to clean your office space.
- Scheduling systems. Create a system by which people can find available times on your calendar and schedule a meeting with you.
- Meeting systems. Come up with a plan for taking notes during meetings, creating actionable steps in that meeting, and following up on the executive of those steps.
- Accounting systems. Work with a bookkeeper or accountant to efficiently process receivables and payables.
You should be working on your business, not in your business.
You should create a franchise business model regardless of whether it is a franchise business or now. In this model, make sure all the processes and operations are well organised, in a sequence and documented. Everything should be documented. So, if anyone purchases your business, they can deliver the same results regardless of who is working in it. With an effective system, if any employee leaves the job then next one can easily take over.
You can only work 10 or max 15 hrs a day. If your business depends on you and if it starts growing, do you have enough resources to handle the growth? With business just depending on you, your operations will start suffering and results will eventually be negatively affected due to excess pressure as a result of growth. However, if you have created a system keeping growth in mind then despite the growth, your service will not suffer.
Also, you should move your business online, to the cloud.
The tech world is moving fast and you do not want to be left behind. To grow, you must adapt.
You should not be keeping all your important documents in your PC. What if you lose your hard drive or it crashes? Always, synchronise to the cloud.
Google offers FREE G drive and Google docs/sheets. These are great for any business. Keep photos, stories, designs, drawings, recordings, videos, and more. Your first 15 GB of storage are free with a Google Account. Your files in Drive can be reached from any smartphone, tablet, or computer. You can quickly invite others to view, download, and collaborate on all the files you want–no email attachment needed.
So wherever you go, your files follow. Your team members or employees can easily work on these documents and share them easily without having to send emails back and forth.
You can also use G Suite by Google Cloud. It will only cost you around A$10 per person but with G Suite you can create your own domain email ex: xyz@websitefix.com.au and use these emails in Gmail. Also, I personally prefer Gmail over Outlook now because of the growth of G Suite lately. There are so many G Suite tools and add-ons which can improve your productivity by 10X and make your life easier.
For instance, a free Gmail app tells you if the email you sent is read by the receiver, when did they read it and so on. There are hundreds of such tools in G Suite Marketplace. Find one that suits you based on your requirements. These tools and applications will improve your productivity.
My life has been easier after making a shift to Gmail for business. I can access my email from anywhere and from any device. Because Gmail is easily connected to G drive, I can easily attach any document from G drive to Gmail with one click. I keep all my docs in G drive so I don’t depend on my desktop or office PC. I can work anywhere in the world.
Another tool I use is asana team management tool. I can connect with my team and allocate tasks to them from any part of the world. It’s an open-source online tool. instead of sending emails to and fro, we can communicate under one task in the comments section of the task. All tasks and team communications are well organised to access or refer.
You should be spending more time learning about these technologies to grow your business. First few days might be hard learning the new technologies but eventually they will make your life much easier and help you grow your business.
You may also be interested in:
10 Ways To Grow Your Business Online
Growing a Business Doesn’t Have to Be that HARD! – SEO Case Study
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