When it comes to your business, as the owner or leader, you need to be aware of every aspect of it. Sure you may outsource different areas, but that doesn’t mean you ever forget about the scale of your business. The plates keep on spinning while you keep an eye on it as someone else does the hard work. Sometimes it can be easy to let things slip, and there are aspects of your business that you may need to rethink, work on, or take time to change.
Many people will have the ambition of starting their own business and wanting to make sure that they do all that they can to make that a reality. It is often a dream of so many, and with many people facing working from home or less work because of the global pandemic the world finds itself in, it is becoming more of an option. You may have had an idea for some time, or it could be something that you have worked on — a hobby that you have that you are now turning into a business. Whatever the situation may be, the prospect of working for yourself is both exciting and overwhelming. With that in mind, here are some of the areas of running a business that you may want to familiarise yourself with a little more, or simply change and refocus on if your business has been established for some time.
SEO and building your website
One of the first things that you may need to get your head around is SEO and building your website. This is often going to be the main source of traffic to your business and a way for you to get orders and sales. Your website needs to be easy to use and to understand, and you also need to think about things such as the content and the words you use. If SEO is something that you are not familiar with, then you could look into agencies that offer different packages to help ensure that you get things right. This can take the pressure off once you know that your website and its content is good enough to attract customers to your business.
The content on your website
The content you create on your website is your chance to make a first impression. So the content must not only to be factual and correct, but also free from grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Having small errors in place can give the wrong impression and can even put people off dealing with you as a business. Regular checks and having these things proofread can help to avoid mistakes being made.
Business in general
You may have had an idea, and you may believe in it, but you also need to have some general knowledge about running a business. It isn’t just as simple as having a website, taking the orders and then fulfilling them. You need to think about cost control and cash flow, you also need to think about invoicing and accounts. On top of that you need to advertise and come up with a marketing strategy to ensure that your business is seen digitally and physically. Getting some general knowledge on business could help you make more informed decisions.
Social media and the importance of great content on the platform
Social media is such an important outlet for businesses these days, and one of the easiest options that you have when it comes to advertising your business. It might be time to start thinking about how you use these platforms. Coming up with a decent social media strategy will be important, and it can be a great way to help you reach out to new and existing customers. Also, build your following organically by responding to messages and comments and engaging with other accounts.
Your digital footprint
We can easily forget that most things are done online these days when it comes to our businesses. Even if you do find yourself checking Facebook more often than you should, when it comes to our own website we can become complacent with uploading to social media, not creating engaging content or failing to be consistent. What you should do is make every effort to ensure that your website is visible in a saturated market such as the World Wide Web. It is best to ensure that you keep track of these things. A social media schedule is a great way to keep track. The beauty of scheduling your posts means that you can spend time creating the content that you know your customers want to see.
Placing a value on your time and where to invest it
Finally, it is important for you to realise that placing a value on your time is very important. You need to think about how your role is best suited in your business, and then consider outsourcing other areas to cover it. This can be a great way to utilise your time and to help you be more productive within your business.
Cash flow
Cash flow is one of those things that we should be made more aware of. What comes in and what goes out of your business keeps things going, and it is important to try and stay in the black as much as possible. The issue businesses have is the fact that invoicing, especially within the trade, gives you the benefit of a 30-day payment window. Which you will take advantage of. However, you also need to be aware the you offer the same courtesy out, so when you expect funds you may not necessarily get them quickly. Keeping track of these things will help you to be more aware of your current situation.
Salaries and payments in and out
Just like you need to keep up-to-date with cash flow, another aspect of the management of the accounts is the salary side of things and those payments in and out for services you have done or products you have supplied, especially within the trade. For the latter, you need to ensure that you keep your invoicing up-to-date and this is when it could be worth looking at having an invoice template to not only keep things consistent but to also make invoicing quick and simple. Salaries and making payments to staff or freelancers should also be a priority, paying those invoices you receive or using a payment system, even if it is a platform like PayPal, can help you to ensure that this side of the financial aspects of your business is always running smoothly.
Branding and awareness
One thing that is often focused on at the beginning of a business journey but is rarely revisited, is the branding side of things and the awareness that you build around it. This is an important part of your business and something that you should look back on to ensure that you get things right. For example, your branding may have not been well thought through, or perhaps you have taken your business in a different direction because of having to diversify owing to the Covid-19 outbreak. Maybe you do things differently now and want your branding to highlight that. A rebrand could be a great idea to help you reestablish your business, especially in the tough times that we find ourselves in.
Your products and services
Maybe now is the time to start rethinking the products and services you offer. It might not seem like the best time to expand your range, but perhaps you have spotted a gap in the market, or maybe have supplied products and services that are specific for the times we find ourselves in. There may be never a right time to expand your products or services, but sometimes you need to strike while the iron is hot. It might not even be about expansion and more about fine-tuning the products you supply or the services that you offer. It might be worth looking at getting some feedback on what your business offers and making some changes if you feel like the time is right. The more you do, the more you can bring your business further, which takes us to our final point.
What are your plans for the future?
The future seems a little uncertain right now, especially for business owners. But that doesn’t mean you can’t set goals or have plans and still take steps to where you want to be. It might be that you need to consider things such as taking smaller steps, or changing some of the plans you once had and looking at other things you can do. Businesses are still thriving even in the harshest of times, so maybe now is the time to focus on the things you had put to one side and get things back on track again.
Let’s hope that these things help you to be more aware and able to manage some of the forgotten aspects of running your business smoothly.
