Do you ever feel like you do too much? In the world of small business, it’s a very likely possibility! However, how are you supposed to stay in charge of a company without having complete control over everything? Well, it’s all about removing the element of ‘control freak’ from your job description.
Indeed, you can be in control without leaving yourself feeling neurotic about your day to day operations. That’s where a good work/life balance comes in, and a strong sense of stability around your financial wellness. So, the more tips like these you have on your side, the easier it’s going to be to streamline your days, and even feel more in charge than ever before.
Employee a Team You Trust
You need to be able to depend on the people who work for you. If you can’t, why did you hire them in the first place? The more you trust those around you, the easier a job becomes; it’s the best way to release a bit of control while still maintaining a good sense of ownership over your business.
After all, when you trust your employees, you can delegate effectively and know that the work will get done. You don’t need to have complete control here and overwork yourself, especially if you’re lacking in the right skills to get things done to a satisfactory level.
Track KPIs That Matter
Key performance indicators, or KPIs, let us know how effective our operations are. However, you need to be sure you’re tracking the right ones. Otherwise you might trick yourself into thinking you’re wasting time and money, and losing out on profit when you could be making thousands more.
Above all, let go of the time metric. There’s no guarantee that eight hours at a desk will be more productive than two hours! What you need to do is assess what’s going on in those hours instead. That’s where you’ll get the richest details about how well your company is performing.
Of course, time will make up part of most other metrics, but it won’t be the most important factor you’re measuring.
Give Yourself a ‘Global’ Overview
A ‘global’ overview means keeping an eye on the internals. You can do this through the use of software and proper communication. For example, tracking your spending through budget sheets and counting how many daily targets you hit using a project management app.
Similarly, if you’ve got a fleet attached to your business services, the use of fleet service management tech and software will let you keep an eye on when cars are being fueled up and what distances they’re going – all without being invasive towards your employees.
These methods allow for general monitoring in the right places without needing to get into the details.
Understand Your Customer
Do you know who you’re selling your product to? You might have an idea about their age, general interest, and how they spend their days, but do you know them inside and out? You’re unlikely to without a bit of research into your core market and how it skews.
Plus, the more you understand your customer, the less work you have to do overall. This’ll save you a lot of time within your company and give you a chance to focus your attention on other underperforming areas.
Know the people and why they want to shop with you; create content for them, gear your adverts towards their lives, and you won’t be chasing a marketing dream 24/7!
Spend Time on the Ground
You need to know what goes on when you’re not looking. How does your team like to get things done when you’re stuck in the office? Find out by getting out on the ground. That makes all the difference in business.
Speak to people, employees and customers alike, and get an understanding of how your daily operations tick. This is also a great way to get to know your employees and their strengths a lot closer; the more informed you are about your team and what they do well, the better you’re going to delegate from here on out.
You don’t have to have complete control to know the way your business works. All you need to do is have some belief in yourself, trust your team, and understand your company from the ground up. That takes some work, but once you’ve got to the point where you’ve ticked these factors off, you’ll really feel in charge!
