5 Business Strategy Tips

BY MELANIE BARR

Magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy. It helps when our business structure, team, and strategy are built and created with as much space as possible for us to do what we most enjoy and what comes naturally. 

When we do this, even the challenging days, which we all have, seem less challenging. Yes, there are things in our business that we don’t want to do but we have to do them. If we’re spending too much time doing something we don’t enjoy or we’re wasting the time doing something that is not bringing us satisfaction, teaching us something so that we grow, or helping the business grow, it’s time to hire someone or find a tech innovation to take some or all of the burden. 

The beautiful thing is there is always someone who enjoys doing what we don’t, and there is a tech innovation for almost everything. Sure, there is a learning curve — and there will be trial and error — but if you are determined to master it, or you find the right person or platform, you will improve your overall business process and flow. 

If you are thinking of hiring, we all have different skills, abilities, thoughts, and interests so the good news is there is someone who is good at and enjoys doing the things that you don’t. If you’re thinking through how to build a team, or find a technology platform to help you scale, here are a few things to think about. 

1. Start to Analyze Your Business Processes

Take a look at your business flow. What are you spending too much time doing when you should or could be doing something else? 

List out the different areas and departments of your business and what areas you spend most of your time on in a day. List them in order of what you like to do to what you least like doing. Then, list them again in order of what you should be doing as a business leader and where you could either hire or implement new technologies.  

It takes time to get new hires up to speed, and it can be challenging to find the right candidate, but if it allows you to do things you enjoy and focus on the areas that generate revenue for the business, it will be worth it. 

2. Learn to Delegate

You’ve looked at your lists and found areas where you could hire or implement new technologies. How much time in a day would it save you, what would it take off of your plate, how would that feel to have the weight lifted, and how would it help you grow? 

One thing that can stop someone from hiring out is the fear of finding the right person or the time we know it takes to train someone and get them up to speed. Yes, this takes time but if taking the time to hire the right person and train them provides the freedom to do other things, such as focus on other areas of your business and life, then it’s time to start delegating. 

When I’m hiring, I look for excellence in responsiveness, particular skills, and a strong desire to want to execute on their job. I’m not perfect by any stretch, but when I do something, I try to give it 100% of my effort. 

I’ve learned that I have to surround myself with people like this or I get frustrated. They have to be at the top of their skillset, reliable, responsible, and pleasant to work with in order for me to hire them. 

If someone is not going to follow through or provide quality work, our lives are too short and we have too much on our plate to work with people who are not going to flow well with us and our business — especially, if we have regular interactions with them and we depend on their work.  

When looking for someone to hire, look for someone who will push you and your business forward — someone who will give you ideas for innovation. If I don’t find this in someone who is working for or with me, I know it’s not going to work. We don’t have the time to pull someone along, nor should we have to.

3. Find a Technology Platform to Help You Scale

I’m on apps all day and I’m guessing you are, too. The beautiful thing is there is an app or technology platform for almost everything. 

Using technology can help with sales, billing, team management, social media, and even some of the heavy lifting that we don’t want to do or don’t have time to do. Adding tech to our lives can take time but it can also save us time. 

There’s a learning curve to using new technology platforms. It takes time to introduce technology to our teams and consumers, not to mention master it and fully adopt it. There will always be glitches to start, but it will streamline our businesses in so many helpful ways, if applied appropriately. 

Think through the areas of your business where you could add an app or technology, then spend a few minutes researching the platform or app capabilities. Read reviews and ask friends or other business owners what technology platforms they use, and how they help them manage the flow. 

4. Streamline for Business Efficiency

Once you’ve figured out the areas in your business that are slowing you and your business down — and you’ve done the research to find the app or someone to hire that might be right for you — it’s time to dive in and implement.

Spend a few hours a week learning the platform or hire someone either short term or long term to get the new technology and running. 

For example, if you want to implement Quickbooks, hire someone who is knowledgeable in Quickbooks for a month to train you and get you up to speed so that you can do it yourself or hire an accountant that will do it for you.  

If you're hiring someone new, make sure the role and expectations are clear. This is helpful to everyone. We can’t provide quality work without a clear understanding of expectations. This also helps future communication and business operation and flow. 

5. Adopting and Maintaining Technology

You’ve identified the app or platform, implemented it, or you’ve hired someone new… Now, it’s time to maintain. 

Sometimes it’s giving these new technologies a chance, understanding it’s not going to be perfect and seamless in the beginning. If enough time and energy is spent on mastering for full adoption, then it will help you streamline your business processes and offer you more freedom to do the things you love.

If you’ve hired someone new, set expectations. How often will you communicate? I’m a fan of weekly calls with key people in my company. We’ve also used apps, like Slack and GoogleDocs to communicate with ease and ensure milestones are being tackled and successfully accomplished. 

Until next time! Keep growing and building your business, making the small daily and quantum leaps, and let nothing stop you from living the life that you crave. 

With gratitude, 

Melanie Barr

Founder & CEO, She Built It™