Small businesses have a tough time managing all aspects at once. Over a decade most of the small businesses have been shut due to poor business management. Small business management is the ongoing process of aligning and coordinating all its aspects, so that it works favourably for the business flow.
In fact, most of the small business consultants just work out on the management process of small businesses to boost it in no time. While most of the small businesses are more interested in the financial figures, the spine of the business is forgotten or taken lightly. Managing the aspects of a SB consists of managing employees, suppliers, business finances, its roadmap or even completing your daily tasks.
What Is Small Business Management?
Small Business Management is a lot more different than managing a huge business or a very small demand and supply business. It is about knowing a lot more than what is required to sustain in the market.
Since, a small business’s goal is to scale and with a small team, most of the responsibilities are merged and assigned. This somehow may seem to help but in reality it messes up a lot. Apart from the basics of small business principles there is a lot to manage including financial management, human resource management, legal management, regulatory management etc.
However, listed below are some things you should know about small business management:
Business Plan
A business plan is very important when it comes to managing a small business. The reason why I say this is, any business management needs to understand what it should manage. The Business Plan provides exactly the same.
A business plan is a roadmap of all your plannings over time. It helps in understanding how you will structure, run, analyse, implement and eventually grow your business. It covers the steps for the firm from marketing, financial, and operational standpoints.
You can learn more about preparing a Business plan here.
Categorise your Finances
Many organisations providing business consultancy services for small businesses always complain about this. Most of the small business owners do not separate their personal and business finances.
This is a horrendous mistake. You may be the owner of the company and all those digits may end up coming to you but that doesn’t mean you should merge them all into one. Keeping your business finance separately, helps you understand how well your plans are working.
Determine Funding Requirements
All startups do not need funding. Yes, you heard me right! Even independent business consultants complain of startups being eager to go for funding even when they don’t have a base ready. This is a grievous fault.
It is just a hypothesis that all startups need funding. It completely depends on the nature and goal of the business. However, if you have your mind set for funding, it’s important to know about the advantages and disadvantages. Whether you’re opting for personal investment, angel investment, business incubators, bank loans or government grants, there are certain criteria they use to evaluate your business before they fund you.
Also, keep in mind that a business with an ongoing operation and a determined runway is more likely to be funded than just a business idea’s pitch deck.
Hire the Right Resources
Team is the core of business operations, so it is very important that we get the right resources hired. At times, the right resource may be expensive but planning around the expense so as to drive a profit out of it is what entrepreneurs should be good at!
It also becomes a part of management to understand how to retain the hired resource for a longer time.
Train Your Resources
No matter how perfect your resources might seem but training them according to your company’s operations is mandatory. It might take the new ones some time to understand the process but that is mandatory to attain long term goals.
Apart from training your new employees, you should also plan for regular training sessions for your entire team to make them feel more competent & empowered in their jobs.
Keep track of your Accounts
Finance is very crucial to run any business. On that note, keeping a track on your balance sheet is very important. A small business operation may not need a devoted person for this, but as the business operation grows, this task can get much more tedious.
Keeping a track of your top-line/revenue, cost of goods sold (COGS), EBITDA etc. is always a good idea, as it projects how well your business is performing over time.
Invest in Marketing
This is one sector I see most of the small business owners neglecting. According to many small business consultants in Delhi small business owners/startup owners think this as an expense rather than an investment.
Spending in marketing is very crucial if you want to get noticed in this market full of brands. Branding and Marketing goes hand in hand for small businesses and it is mandatory to invest in them. Without them no business can run long enough to succeed.
Learn to Delegate
Delegation is not taboo or being reluctant. It is an awesome tool to manage time. With so much to be done by business owners of small businesses, delegating jobs to the hired resource can both save time and effort of the business head.
There are other aspects as well which can be understood very well here.
Mentioned above are some basic and broad ideas of managing a small business efficiently. However, being innovative and learning new and effective ways to manage your business can always save a lot of effort, making your business much more productive.
Effective Tips for Small Business Management
Summing up all the points, below are some effective tips to manage your Small Business:
- Invest some time in getting your Business Plan ready and work accordingly.
- Separate the personal and business finance.
- Determine your funding requirements and pre-plan for it.
- Hire the right team to increase productivity.
- Train your team over time to maintain productivity and work enthusiasm.
- Keep a close eye on your business accounts to grow financially
- Invest in marketing and understand the difference between expense and investment.
- Delegate jobs and assign them to the best possible resource.
- As a business owner, keep growing your decision making skills.
- Never ever expect, instead plan for your future.
In case you find it really difficult to manage everything at once, you can always opt for small business consulting services near you. If managing is not a problem, you can surely do it yourself efficiently.