Nobody wants to think that their business is inefficient but, sometimes, you may find that your strategic priorities have gotten a bit crossed. It’s an issue that is more common in a small business, but even large enterprises struggle from time-to-time. Sometimes, it’s an issue with your cash flow. Other times, it’s a holdup with goal-setting. Whatever is holding your business back, there are some easy ways to streamline it.
Let go a little.
Often, when an entrepreneur notices that things need to be streamlined, they tend to hold onto their control much more tightly. Usually, this has a negative impact that you can see in real-time. Instead of grasping more tightly, try letting go a bit. Delegate control.
You’ve probably heard the saying that every quality organization is like a well-oiled machine. Well, guess what machines have? Parts. You need to let all of the parts of your business work together in a way that feels more organic. Often, this means you’ll have to rely on outsourcing.
Say, for instance, you run an online business or e-commerce business. Chances are you’re selling products and goods. Unless you’re incredibly well-versed in navigating sales tax regulations, financial reports, and allocating how much money you make, you could be in a bit of a pickle. Here’s a perfect chance to bring in an ecommerce accountant. Bringing in a bookkeeper and tax preparers is likely much more effective than relying entirely on accounting software.
To keep the example going, let’s say you, as a business owner, found an e-commerce accountant. Instead of spending time with the aforementioned accounting software, you can proceed to operate your online seller profile without worrying if your ecommerce business is committing any violations.
Reassess your goals.
While it’s good to have ambitious goals, some of them aren’t realistic. However, the inverse holds true. If your goals are something that isn’t measurable, such as “have a good time,” you’re going to find it difficult to grow your business. Instead, strong business goals might be to increase the number of accounts you onboard in the first quarter. To use the previous example, your goal could even be to hire an ecommerce seller accountant or retain advisory services by the end of the first month of Q3.
Often, the best way to do this is through the help of OKRs. OKRs are also referred to as objectives and key results. The OKR framework has been used to help businesses set realistic, measurable goals and tackle them bit by little bit. Of course, it all begins with refining what key results you’re tracking. To that end, you’ll likely want to partner with a company like WorkBoard.
WorkBoard is one of the top names in the OKRs software industry. The WorkBoard dashboard can help a startup, small business, or even large enterprises. It’s a great way to keep yourself accountable and on track to hit all of your key goals. WorkBoard is great for ecommerce sellers, corporations with global offices in Hong Kong and London, and every type of business in between.
WorkBoard can help you track important metrics such as how much money you’re making per quarter as well as team engagement. Plus, it’s intuitive enough that you don’t need to tinker with code like JavaScript to implement it. If you’re not ready to set up accounts, you can even request demos and trials to familiarize yourself with how OKRs work and how they benefit you.
If you’re ready for this month to be incredibly productive, follow the previous two steps to realign how you’re viewing your business. Sometimes, all you need to do is change up your perspective a bit. You never know what opportunities you might spot.