What every small business owner should know
Whether you are just starting out or you have been running your small business for a while, there are some things that you will need to know in order for it to become a success or for it to survive another catastrophe like the pandemic.
There are many factors which will affect your business and you can do a lot to make these effect positive, however, if you do nothing you will be struggling to keep your head above water and keep your employees with your business.
Keeping overheads to a minimum
In the past small businesses may have struggled at being able to keep their overheads to an absolute minimum, however, since the pandemic has hit there has been a new and highly acceptable way of working that heavily benefits both employee and employer alike.
This is remote working. The employees see it as highly desirable as it means that they do not spend hours upon hours of their time traveling or stuck in traffic, these hours are very valuable to them as it could mean a bit longer in bed in the morning or spending more time with their loved ones – in particular young family members after the working day has finished. There is also the added comfort of working from home and not having to get dressed up and being able to eat something other than sandwiches or packed lunch at lunchtime.
Of course, there are some pretty good benefits for the employer too. No longer being tied to hiring employees from the local vicinity or those that are willing to commute, you can now hire the best that you can afford anywhere in the world which is fantastic for your business. You can cut the costs of running your business as you will not require premises to house these remote employees, no rental fees, extra taxes that go with additional premises, no upkeep, maintenance, or canteen area to fill.
Knowing your rights and that of your employees
Regardless of whether you are going the route of hiring employees for remote working or you are having them attend a place of work either on shifts patterns or normal hours, you will have to know your rights and theirs. This is so that if you run into trouble with an employee, you will know what you must do to resolve the issue.
Unfortunately, some issues are not easy to resolve and you may at some point need the assistance of a corporation, commercial, or business attorney. It is a good idea to have the details of an experienced attorney of this sort close at hand as you may find that the quicker you act the faster the issue will be sorted out. An experienced attorney such as https://www.fleeson.com/practice-areas/corporate-and-commercial-litigation could very well want you to give over certain details for evidence and for your case while they are fresh in your head, in this case, the longer you leave it before contacting an attorney the more muddled and clouded your memories will be, which could affect the outcome of your case.
Benefits of promoting staff through the ranks
As you might already know, there are some real benefits to promoting staff through the ranks of your business rather than constantly looking to the outside world to provide you with a suitable candidate. One of the main reasons is that you will already know how committed the employee is to your business and how well they work with the other members of your team. You will be able to train them up to do exactly the role which you want them to do, even if it means enrolling them in an online course for them to complete in their own time and they will already have a very strong understanding of your business and what is going to be expected of them.
You will find that it heightens the loyalty within your workforce with your employees knowing that there are possible career routes open to those that wish to apply for them as well as full training given for any role that they step into.
Keeping employee morale high
It is important that you know how to keep the morale of your workforce high, it is no secret that workforces with high levels of morale work better together, get more done, have less sick time, and a much higher quality of workmanship.
There are various ways in which you can keep your employee’s morale flying high, you may want to try just one or two options or go for the full bucket load, some do have a price tag whereas others are cheap and cheerful.
It is important, especially after a particularly trying day, to say thank you to all your employees for all their hard work. This is simple enough and not enough employers do it, but it makes employees feel that they have been noticed and their hard efforts have not been taken for granted.
You can award them for their efforts by giving vouchers, money off coupons, or hampers. Make competitions out of who can provide the best quality, who can get good customer feedback, who can do more than their usual share of the load, and who excels at their job role. This could create a surge of activity especially if the winnings are worth the effort.
Bonuses of outsourcing
There are some great bonuses of using outsourcing rather than hiring additional staff, especially if you are wanting the services of experts but can’t quite reach the sort of money that you will need to offer to have them on your books full-time.
There are many different ways to outsource areas or projects within your business and there is not a department within a business that cannot be outsourced from front office job roles as virtual assistants to HR, Accounts, IT, Digital Marketing; you name it, you can outsource it. Have experienced businesses come in for a fee and sort areas out for you when you need them and not be on your payroll when you don’t.
This means that any small business can have the feel of a big business and have the knowledge and support there as well. You may find that some of the businesses that you use to outsource work will happily bubble away in the background for a small fee so that if you require their particular expertise on any matter, they are there ready and waiting for your call.
Build good relationships with suppliers
As you can imagine it is good to build good strong relationships with your suppliers and to have a couple of suppliers for each and everything that you may need to obtain. The pandemic has seen many businesses fail due to their supply chain failing either down to lack of support from customers or because they could not get hold of the items that their customers wanted. It is, therefore, a good idea to know that there are other ways of getting the goods that you require should your chosen supplier falter.
Although it is wise to keep in mind that suppliers will try to look after their best customers and may even try to satisfy their requirements over customers that maybe aren’t so loyal or have such a strong bond with them. In short, the strength of the relationship you have with your supplier could be the decider on whether you do get your order or you don’t.
There are many factors which will affect your business and you can do a lot to make these effect positive, however, if you do nothing you will be struggling to keep your head above water and keep your employees with your business.
Keeping overheads to a minimum
In the past small businesses may have struggled at being able to keep their overheads to an absolute minimum, however, since the pandemic has hit there has been a new and highly acceptable way of working that heavily benefits both employee and employer alike.
This is remote working. The employees see it as highly desirable as it means that they do not spend hours upon hours of their time traveling or stuck in traffic, these hours are very valuable to them as it could mean a bit longer in bed in the morning or spending more time with their loved ones – in particular young family members after the working day has finished. There is also the added comfort of working from home and not having to get dressed up and being able to eat something other than sandwiches or packed lunch at lunchtime.
Of course, there are some pretty good benefits for the employer too. No longer being tied to hiring employees from the local vicinity or those that are willing to commute, you can now hire the best that you can afford anywhere in the world which is fantastic for your business. You can cut the costs of running your business as you will not require premises to house these remote employees, no rental fees, extra taxes that go with additional premises, no upkeep, maintenance, or canteen area to fill.
Knowing your rights and that of your employees
Regardless of whether you are going the route of hiring employees for remote working or you are having them attend a place of work either on shifts patterns or normal hours, you will have to know your rights and theirs. This is so that if you run into trouble with an employee, you will know what you must do to resolve the issue.
Unfortunately, some issues are not easy to resolve and you may at some point need the assistance of a corporation, commercial, or business attorney. It is a good idea to have the details of an experienced attorney of this sort close at hand as you may find that the quicker you act the faster the issue will be sorted out. An experienced attorney such as https://www.fleeson.com/practice-areas/corporate-and-commercial-litigation could very well want you to give over certain details for evidence and for your case while they are fresh in your head, in this case, the longer you leave it before contacting an attorney the more muddled and clouded your memories will be, which could affect the outcome of your case.
Benefits of promoting staff through the ranks
As you might already know, there are some real benefits to promoting staff through the ranks of your business rather than constantly looking to the outside world to provide you with a suitable candidate. One of the main reasons is that you will already know how committed the employee is to your business and how well they work with the other members of your team. You will be able to train them up to do exactly the role which you want them to do, even if it means enrolling them in an online course for them to complete in their own time and they will already have a very strong understanding of your business and what is going to be expected of them.
You will find that it heightens the loyalty within your workforce with your employees knowing that there are possible career routes open to those that wish to apply for them as well as full training given for any role that they step into.
Keeping employee morale high
It is important that you know how to keep the morale of your workforce high, it is no secret that workforces with high levels of morale work better together, get more done, have less sick time, and a much higher quality of workmanship.
There are various ways in which you can keep your employee’s morale flying high, you may want to try just one or two options or go for the full bucket load, some do have a price tag whereas others are cheap and cheerful.
It is important, especially after a particularly trying day, to say thank you to all your employees for all their hard work. This is simple enough and not enough employers do it, but it makes employees feel that they have been noticed and their hard efforts have not been taken for granted.
You can award them for their efforts by giving vouchers, money off coupons, or hampers. Make competitions out of who can provide the best quality, who can get good customer feedback, who can do more than their usual share of the load, and who excels at their job role. This could create a surge of activity especially if the winnings are worth the effort.
Bonuses of outsourcing
There are some great bonuses of using outsourcing rather than hiring additional staff, especially if you are wanting the services of experts but can’t quite reach the sort of money that you will need to offer to have them on your books full-time.
There are many different ways to outsource areas or projects within your business and there is not a department within a business that cannot be outsourced from front office job roles as virtual assistants to HR, Accounts, IT, Digital Marketing; you name it, you can outsource it. Have experienced businesses come in for a fee and sort areas out for you when you need them and not be on your payroll when you don’t.
This means that any small business can have the feel of a big business and have the knowledge and support there as well. You may find that some of the businesses that you use to outsource work will happily bubble away in the background for a small fee so that if you require their particular expertise on any matter, they are there ready and waiting for your call.
Build good relationships with suppliers
As you can imagine it is good to build good strong relationships with your suppliers and to have a couple of suppliers for each and everything that you may need to obtain. The pandemic has seen many businesses fail due to their supply chain failing either down to lack of support from customers or because they could not get hold of the items that their customers wanted. It is, therefore, a good idea to know that there are other ways of getting the goods that you require should your chosen supplier falter.
Although it is wise to keep in mind that suppliers will try to look after their best customers and may even try to satisfy their requirements over customers that maybe aren’t so loyal or have such a strong bond with them. In short, the strength of the relationship you have with your supplier could be the decider on whether you do get your order or you don’t.
