Being an entrepreneur is never easy. There are decisions you have to take at every step. There are challenges thrown at you every now and then & overcoming them becomes quite a Herculean task. In this blog post, I’ve tried to sum up important decision every entrepreneur has to take for his/her start-up business.
HIRING
As a business owner, you should know when to hire and whom to hire. Workforce management is one of the most important tasks for an entrepreneur. It’s your job to have the right people and the right number of people to get the work done. Hire people who complement your skill. For instance, if you’re a graphic designer, you’d rather hire someone who exhibits skills that are different from your domain of expertise; a web designer for example.
When does hiring become imperative?
- When you have more projects/deadlines coming your way and no helping hand to help you achieve them!
- You see an opportunity for growth and decide it’s time to take a calculated risk.
- When you realize that you need a people with a set of skills to help your idea blossom into a booming business.
MOVE TO A NEW OFFICE OR WORK FROM HOME?
As your business grows, you realize it’s time to move out of your basement’s comfort and get a workspace for you and your colleagues. A growing business requires more room, more storage, and more equipment. With an office come great “liabilities”. You need to take care of overheads like electricity, water, rent, bills? Do you have the appetite to take a risk? If yes, then it’s time for you to shift base.
GET SUPPORT STAFF
In order to focus wholly on business activities, you must appoint a support staff to take care of the rest. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if you were to leave your job to call a plumber just cause your washroom sink is clogged? Or you might find yourself in a situation where you’re letting go of projects because you’re spending way too much time managing employee accounts. Therefore, for you to concentrate on core business, a support staff is essential!
TECHNOLOGY/SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION
In a creative twist to an old proverb, it can be said that “everything good is built upon technology”! Therefore, if you’re not investing in the right technology support, you might be missing out on a lot! Technology and software implementation in terms of Customer Relationship Management and Enterprise Resource Planning is vital to running a business!
Customer Relationship Management
CRM aims to improve relationships with existing customers as well as finding prospective customers. All of this can be achieved using a software that collects, organizes and manages customer information. This is advantageous to both small and large scale business ventures.
Enterprise Resource Planning
ERP or enterprise resource planning is a business process management software that allows businesses to use integrated applications and automate back office functions related to technology, human resources etc. It integrates all facets of an operation including sales, marketing, development, planning, manufacturing.
WHEN TO SAY “NO” TO A POTENTIAL CLIENT!
Turning down a potential client is turning down paid work! None of us want to do it, yet there are certain situations where there is no option but to force an egress and say no to a client. Trust me, that’s not easy! The trick to saying no to a client is base your communication around the following:
- Ensuring your reason is credible
- Your wording should be sympathetic
- You shouldn’t leave room for negotiation
WORKLOAD BALANCE
Business can be harbingers of stress and anxiety, along with their monetary benefits. Yes, managing workload and balancing work serve as the essential prerequisites and this is probably ‘essential business knowledge’. You may find yourself frequently struggling to jostle between projects and that lead to failure in meeting deadlines. Therefore it is essential to strike out the right balance so that you can easily juggle projects; lest you find yourself burning out! If the work’s too much, consider outsourcing your business. Too much burden on yourself would be detrimental to overall performance.
SCALING OPERATIONS
There’s a difference between growing a business and scaling a business! Scalability is the ability to grow rapidly and at a compound rate. Knowing when to scale is a perennial question that business leaders often encounter. Scaling your business doesn’t mean delusional daydreaming; it takes sincere thought and effort. Let’s take a working example to address the situation:
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