Every business is unique - but faces challenges that are generally common to all - or at least those in their industry. Not everybody faces every challenge. As an obvious example, people who work alone do not have to consider team issues - although even there some issues are applicable. Recognising and dealing with the strengths and weaknesses of the almost opposite personalities needed in every business - entrepreneur and manager - is almost like dealing with different people. And every business faces issues with its specific products and services.
The issues in the five following articles are among the most common we encounter. If you have not faced any of these yet, perhaps you haven't been trading for long - or maybe you do indeed lead a charmed life. A list of 100 challenges faced by businesses had these five right at the top of their list - so I feel confident using them as examples. However, they are just examples. Whatever the issues you face, the same techniques can be used to solve them:
- Identify the problem at the root level - not merely the symptoms
- identify potential solutions (not just settling for the most obvious one)
- plan and develop (including systematising and measuring) your solution(s)
- implement your solution(s)
- test the solutions (which requires measuring the issues at the start to provide a comparison - what you can measure you can manage)
- review and modify the solutions as required (it may require several iterations to refine and get maximum benefit)
It's always important to keep the big picture in view. Focussing on one specific problem may mean you miss opportunities elsewhere. When you started your business it's unlikely that "juggler" was in your mind as part of your job description. But that's what you become. Work on issues one at a time, while keeping the bigger picture in mind, and ensuring you don't have to deal with the same issue in the future because of "slippage". And I know that's easier said than done - but if done consistently it will transform your business - bit by bit.
People make all sorts of promises about helping businesses improve. We offer many of the same styles of tools and resources - but until you are prepared to drive the development of your business, any results will only be short-term at best. If you're unsure how much you want to see your business grow, that's fine. At least start talking with us. It won't cost you anything and will at least help you identify your goals, and the next stage in the process.