In order to be as efficient as possible, every business needs to review and improve its working processes in a number of different areas, at least once a year. It could be that you need to cut back costs, or simply want to improve performance in the most cost-effective manner, but assessing where improvements can be made is essential.
Whatever the reasons, there are a few key areas to focus your streamlining efforts on first, before assessing the wider company. Compare the current performance against the aims, ambitions and targets you have for your company, and focus on streamlining in the following areas to achieve them.
Recruitment
The recruitment process can sometimes be a long and arduous one, with so much time spent sifting through CVs and arranging interviews, only for the chosen candidate to not be the right choice and leave after a month. Whether recruiting internally or externally, some similar problems can crop up.
There are a number of ways to improve your hiring process. Outsourcing is a quick and easy way, though will cost, as professional recruiters are experts at finding the right candidates. Otherwise, review job descriptions to ensure they are accurate, use the most experienced employees to conduct interviews and test candidates before inviting for an interview to save time.
Finance
Especially for new and small businesses, getting your financial situation running smoothly is vital. When working with new clients it can be hard to ensure they pay up front or on time for products or services at first.
Combat this with invoice finance services from Touch Financial. This ensures you receive the amount owed to you by clients up front, with a discount deducted, so it can be put straight back into the business. It can be used to expand, buy new materials or for anything else so the whole business process is not hampered by a few late paying clients.
Marketing
Create a marketing strategy and follow it closely to reduce the amount of time and effort that may otherwise be wasted. Social media should be an essential part of this, as setting up an account and posting via this medium is a free yet highly effective method.
Ideally, your business will have a marketing team in place who are in charge of this area, which means not too many people become involved in the process. Think about what’s best for your company and customer base and put the plan into action.