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A Complete Guide For Running a Successful Business

  • Thomas Oppong
  • Feb 4, 2019
  • 6 minute read

When it comes to business, every one of them wants to have success. This success might just be achieving a certain goal, making a financial sum of money or having a company that sustains itself for a long period of time. Whatever the plan for the business, it’s always useful to continue learning about how to run it successfully. So here are some tips to do just that!

Organisation is key

To be successful, organisation is key. Whatever the business may be, having a plan of what you want to achieve on a daily basis is important. It keeps you driven as an individual, and it gives the company a sense of direction. Organisation helps you stay on top of tasks, and there’s nothing more satisfying than ticking off something on that to-do list. Here are a few ways of keeping your business organized:

Organize the space

Your surroundings certainly affect your work productivity so keeping your space in top shape will contribute to a better working environment. Whether you’re a small team or a large organization, make sure that the office is kept to a high standard constantly. Store files away and keep all surfaces clean, from the reception to employee’s desks. Everything should be kept in order because, at the end of the day, you’re presenting an image of your organization, even in the office.

While you’re doing this, you need to be taking measures to protect the space as well. You can get security systems for your office to ensure that it’s safe, and find a company that offers remote security monitoring to keep an eye on things.

Respond to emails immediately

Emails will often sit in the inbox and go unnoticed and forgotten about if not dealt with immediately. Take every email and deal with it immediately, right down to the junk mail. There’s nothing more de-motivating than logging onto your email and seeing a mixed amount of opened and unopened emails that haven’t been answered or filed away properly in the relevant folders.

Time management software

There’s now a great deal of new software available that can help with that all-important procrastination that gleefully steals away our time. We all wish that we could have more hours in the day, but alas we have to make do. So take advantage of these time management software systems that exist and utilize them to help make the most of your time and of your employees.

Setting goals

Setting goals are important for any business, no matter how well established they may be. These goals can be anything to do with the business, not just financially. Think about what you want for the business and what your ultimate goals are. What’s the endgame for the company?

Once you know that, you can work backward to create yearly, monthly, weekly and daily goals. This variety of goals will help keep you motivated so that you can work towards the main goal for the business. It’s important to make these realistic because if they’re impossible to achieve, then they won’t work and that can have the opposite effect you want. A few other tips for setting goals are:

  • Make sure your goals tie in with the company’s mission and values.
  • Be detailed with your goals and who and what you’ll need in order to achieve them.
  • Dream big but be realistic. This was mentioned above but it’s very important to know that you can have dreams, so if you believe in it and it’s realistic, it’ll work.
  • Communicate these goals to other staff members so that everyone’s on the same page constantly.

Know your competition

Your attention shouldn’t be solely focused on your competition all the time, but it’s definitely useful to keep an eye on what they are up to, to benefit your own brand. Creativity is theft so look at what they’re doing to bring in new customers, what campaigns, products or services that they’re providing and how they’re executing them. And then do it better!

Keeping tabs on your competition helps with knowing what works and what doesn’t. When one of your competitors fails, you’re not losing out and in fact your gaining knowledge. The same goes for when they succeed and how you can do the same but better. It also helps generate an idea of what your current and will be for any decisions you initially had for your own organization. It can provide a forecast of how customers may react to a new product or service, thanks to similar projects that have occurred previously.

Represent your brand

A lot has changed since the introduction of the digital world. It’s important now more than ever to look after how your company and brand is represented both physically and digitally. So how do you represent it properly? One option is reputation management and is being used more and more by business’ that perhaps struggle with various aspects of representation on a variety of levels. Reputation management happens mostly online because that’s where most communication happens.

So if you’re looking for ways of representing your brand correctly, here are a few tips to get you started.

Build a website

Websites are great for a business as it’s a space for the company to express their views and sell their product or service. New and existing customers and clients can head over to this platform and find everything they need in regards to who they are, what they do and how to get in touch.

Run social media platforms

Social media online is a very big influence in driving sales and pushing marketing campaigns. If you haven’t already, set up social media accounts that represent your brand so that customers can interact with you directly. Brand consistency is important so that from an outside viewpoint, the company is prominent on the web. This is essential as the digital world is the future and what businesses are adapting to, in order to be successful.

Think about what you say and do

Everything nowadays is examined and scrutinized, so it’s crucial to think about what you say and do. Always have an extra pair of eyes on any campaign you launch, any product or service you provide.

Focus on your customers

Customers are bringing in the business at the end of the day, and without them, you might not be making the money needed to keep it afloat. So focus on your customers and what they want from you. You should always be in constant communication with them and allow them to easily get in touch with you about issues they may have.

Whether that’s tweeting on Twitter, emailing via the website or calling you directly through the good old fashioned telephone. Your customers should be the number one priority and often established businesses can forget about customer focus.

Listen to your customers and the suggestions they make. If you listen and then do something about the issues or concerns, this will make a huge impact on the business because word of mouth and recommendations can really help spread the existence of your brand.

Listen to your employees

As well as the customers, your employees are the cogs that keep the company turning on a daily basis. So they are just as important as anything else in your business. When it comes to your employees, always try to achieve the best from them and give them the opportunity to progress in the business and make a difference, rather than them just being another number. Whether they have an intention to stay in the company for a year or would like to climb up the ladder, they should all matter and given the best opportunity.

Set up one-to-one meetings with employees on a regular basis to check in on how they’re doing and what their concerns may be. They want to feel valued at the end of the day and if that doesn’t happen then work productivity is likely to be bad, and they’ll not want to stay within the business for too long. Offer them incentives and show them that you care as an employer.

Prepare for risks and sacrifices

There are risks that will have to be made in business, and that’s expected pretty much in any company. Risks can be good for the company, and they can also be bad, but if you don’t take them, it could stop the organization from rising to a new level. Sacrifices also come in thick and fast, especially when you’re just starting up a business.

Be prepared to sacrifice some of your lifestyle choices and your own personal time. No one really achieves success overnight (you have to be very lucky), so expect the work to be tough. Risks and sacrifices are a part of the business, so go with what your gut tells you and always seek advice when needed.

Hopefully, these tips have offered you a bit more insight on how to utilize what you have in your business already and what you need in order to continue or achieve success. Implement these tips today and who knows what it could achieve for your company both in the short-term and long-term.

Thomas Oppong

Founder at Alltopstartups and author of Working in The Gig Economy. His work has been featured at Forbes, Business Insider, Entrepreneur, and Inc. Magazine.

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