Are you finding it tough to streamline your daily work processes, and that most of your business resources remain overworked or underutilized? Is your small business struggling to hit optimal productivity, which is further causing a dip in overall sales figures? Worse, are your business operations hampered by limited or inconsistent cash flow?
If you are one of those entrepreneurs who are facing the aforementioned challenges, then it’s likely that you are not using the best tools for managing the key areas of a small business.
Now, different businesses operate differently and key areas differ from business to business. However, there are certain critical areas that are common to businesses irrespective of their size and type. I have identified and listed the key areas that demand careful management to help small businesses achieve their goals.
5 key areas of a small business
Though small businesses have to oversee many crucial aspects, I’ve zeroed in on five zones that are of the utmost importance to both entrepreneurs and managers.
1. Resource management
Resource management is essential to keep a business running because it ensures resources are available in the right places at the right time and reduces costs and wasted effort. Resources can include not only tangible things like products, equipment, and money, but also valuable assets like skills and time. To make sure this happens, businesses must create schedules and set budgets for people, projects, and supplies.
Thankfully, there are tools available to streamline many of these processes. There’s a lot of software that allows you to foster collaboration as you assign tasks to the appropriate team members. You can also track progress and capacity. Best of all, many of these tools also generate reports that help you find patterns and address areas needing improvement.
2. Operations
Operations are an essential part of any business because departments coordinating with one another to meet goals is what business is all about. You may not recognize all that goes into operations on a daily basis, but as soon as anything is out of sync, your team notices and productivity can falter.
Many businesses have started utilizing software to keep their operations on track. Proofhub is an example of a software that offers a centralized workspace for teams to keep track of task lists, workflows, discussions, calendars, and documents. When looking for this kind of tech, it’s important to make sure the software you choose integrates with other tools you use, and it’s an added perk when there’s little to no learning curve.
3. Marketing
No matter how great your company is, it isn’t going to succeed without some marketing efforts. What that means for you will probably differ based on your business. It might prove more beneficial to focus on social media efforts or content marketing. But the bottom line is that you need to be promoting and marketing your products or services.
If you have an internal marketing team, they have plenty of resources to choose from. Customer relation management tools ensure customer interactions are consistently smooth. Social media schedulers, like Hootsuite, allow marketers to schedule social media posts down to the minute. Search engine optimization tools can benefit teams starting with keyword research or finalizing content. At any stage of any marketing strategy, there’s likely a tool to streamline the process.
4. Sales
Sales obviously play an important role in business because they generate revenue, but sales teams are also your front line when it comes to establishing customer loyalty and trust. An efficient sales team can help grow your business through improved profits and reputation.
Arming your sales team with the proper tools is crucial. Ask them about their pain points. If keeping documents organized is a hassle, find a contract management software that lets them streamline agreements and manage digital contracts. If drafting personalized emails eats away at their time, consider using templates. Anything that’s repetitive and bogs down their process should be automated when possible.
5. Financial
Accounting, recordkeeping, administrative work, and monitoring cash flow are all tasks that get repetitive quickly. While that can be monotonous for humans, computer software can make quick work of number crunching.
There are plenty of tools to help streamline financial processes. Accounting software should help with report generation, automated recordkeeping, expense calculation, and invoicing. Expense tracking tools let employees from across teams share any expenses with the finance department. Those are just a couple of examples. When looking at finance-related tools, make sure anything you add integrates smoothly with the tools your team is currently using.
Final takeaways
Managing a small business is no easy task, especially when you have limited resources at your disposal. By using the right tools to manage different areas of your small business, you can achieve improved results while saving your employees from tedious manual work.
The tools mentioned in this blog will help you eliminate resource wastage and cut down on error-prone manual work while facilitating collaboration across various departments.
In this dynamic age, you cannot afford to rely on old-fashioned ways. So, I would suggest you immerse yourself in reading small business publications that are crucial to your small business, and choose the best tools. The right tools can help you focus on other, more important aspects of your business to drive greater success.
This article was written by John Hall from Inc. and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive Content Marketplace. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].
