Day to Day Running of a Small Business
A troublesome small business problem is administration work. This includes bookkeeping, payroll, and the day to day documentation of running a small business. Issues with administrative tasks can also lead to (or stem from) problems in other areas, such as recruitment and time management.
Many small businesses start without standard processes. As the business grows, a lack of consistent workflows in place mean tasks are often duplicated, forgotten, or delayed. This results in more time spent fixing errors and filling gaps, rather than getting ahead on meaningful work. As the business takes on more clients or projects, the admin workload increases exponentially, which can be a barrier to scaling.
Some areas that need to be addressed:
Effective Communication
With the digital age accelerating the pace of business, maintaining efficient communication can be daunting. Keeping track of all communication with your staff, your vendors, and your clients/prospects can get overwhelming. Very rarely does the day to day running of a business occur in a linear process. There are things you need to remember at later dates and need to know the specific details at that time.
Utilizing some method to document when conversations occurred, what was said, and what/when the next steps are is necessary. This can often mean utilizing electronic tools such as a CRM.
Time Management
Small business owners wear many hats. As the head/owner of the business, you need to fit a lot into a few short hours each day. Managing your time appropriately can be difficult, and getting distracted with small tasks can take away from time better spent working on growing your business. You can't get involved in every nuance of the day to day operations of your business.
One of the best ways to overcome this challenge is to identify the areas where you spend the most time each day, then explore ways to make these tasks more efficient. If you can’t reduce the time a task takes, perhaps you can delegate it to a team member or outsource it. Pay the most attention to menial tasks that aren’t necessary for a business owner to do, such as filing paperwork or administrative tasks that do not affect your bottom line.
Business Plan Validation
A solid and realistic business plan is the basis of a successful business. In the plan, you will outline achievable goals for your business, how your business can meet those goals, and possible problems and solutions. The plan will figure out if there's a need for the business through research and surveys; it will figure out the costs and inputs needed for the business, and it will outline strategies and timelines that should be implemented and met.
Once you have the plan, you should follow it. If you start changing your strategies whimsically, you are asking for failure. If you have found that your business plan is overwhelmingly inaccurate, it's best to find out what's wrong with it, fix it, and follow the new plan rather than change how you do business based on quick observations.
The more mistakes you make, the more expensive your business will become and the greater the chance of failure. You may also be called to pivot when market conditions change drastically and impact negatively the chances of success based on the initial business plan. In this case, you revisit your plan and edit it fully based on the decided pivot.
Payroll and Human Resources
The most significant payroll challenge for small businesses is navigating complex and ever-changing tax regulations and labor laws, which can lead to compliance issues and potential penalties if not managed effectively. You also need to be accurate in timekeeping because constant problems with payroll will lead to higher employee turnover. Also making sure of what you can offer and if there are tax breaks for that makes your company a more attractive employment destination.
Human resources can be a complex situation to navigate for a small business, especially when many people are wearing multiple hats. You don't want to make a misstep that can turn into a legal issue. There are general rules about the size of company before you should bring on a full time HR and payroll person. For many small businesses it makes more sense to outsource things like this. You may also outsource health benefits to a company that has many small company clients and allows pooling to get better rates on benefits.