There’s a lot to get excited about when you’re starting a business. The same can be said if you’re taking on a leadership role within a company. It comes with more perks, more flexibility, and it can make you feel a sense of pride.
However, some of the excitement is undoubtedly going to wear off as the day-to-day reality of running a business sets in. You may have a passion for the product or service you offer, but there’s a lot more to a business than passion!
Here are a few that are likely to give you a headache, as well as tips to make them a little easier.
Contract Management
Although it’s true that some businesses deal with more contracts than others, no matter what you do, you are going to deal with more contracts than you think. From contracts for sales teams to legal documents to financial documents, and more, there are a lot of contracts to manage!
Contract management software can make it easier. For example, a contract management solution from Malbek comes with many benefits, including the fact that contracts are searchable. Plus, there’s, “No more of having to build a complex report to get your list of contracts the way you want it.”
You can request a contract and have it delivered instantly, and you can even return a contract that you don’t like for it to be edited or completely redone, all while you get on with the business of running your company.
Finding Customers
You don’t have a business without customers, but chances are, you didn’t get into business because finding and communicating with customers is your passion. You just want to get on with the work and hope customers come to you!
Unfortunately, finding customers takes time and effort. It starts with knowing what types of customers there are, which ones you want to target, and how best to target them. For example:
- Loyal customers are few and far between, but they will provide you with over half of your sales.
- Discount customers are always on the hunt for the best deals.
- Impulse customers make quick decisions to buy based on how they feel in the moment.
- Need-based customers know exactly what they need to get and have done their research.
- Wandering customers may or may not buy. Instead, they are looking for an experience or a community.
Focus on just one or two customer types at a time. It will make the task seem more manageable and you’re more likely to get results.
Finding Employees
Not only can finding customers be a pain, finding employees can be a pain. If you aren’t careful, you could spend most of your time on this task, which will leave you feeling frustrated and unfulfilled at the end of the day.
That doesn’t mean you should hire the first candidate who looks decent on paper! The cost of employee turnover can kill your business. Not to mention, hiring the wrong people can make life more miserable for you, as well as your employees.
Although it may be annoying and time consuming, it’s much better to take your time when filling open positions within your business. If you’re feeling frustrated by the amount of time it takes, enlist the help of some trusted employees. They can help you narrow down candidates, brainstorm questions, conduct interviews, and provide you with valuable insight into who they think would be the best addition to the team.
Managing Workflow
You want to do your own work—you don’t want to have to babysit everyone else while they do theirs! However, creating tasks, distributing them, and checking in on employees while they are working on tasks is just part of the job.
First, it’s important to know your employees. Know their experience and education, but you should also know their strengths and preferences. That way you can match them up with the kind of work they will not only enjoy, but will excel at completing.
Then, make sure expectations are clear. It may take some time upfront, but outlining tasks clearly and making sure your employees know exactly what is expected when the task is complete can prevent the back and forth that is all-too-common between some employees and management. A workflow management system can make this a lot easier.
Financial Planning
Dealing with finances can be a downright nightmare. Not only are they complex, they can also reveal things about your business that you would rather not know. However, only knowing can bring you closer to the kind of success you’re striving for.
There are a few things to keep in mind when managing finances, but it’s always a good idea to hire someone with knowledge and experience to help you. Not only can they dig into the numbers and provide you with accurate information, they can provide you with advice on how to use that information to best support your business.
Scaling
Expanding is the dream of many entrepreneurs, but when the time comes, it can be downright scary. If you work with the wrong people, or if you scale before your product is ready, scaling can ultimately cause your business to fail.
There are a lot of things to do if you want to scale your business, but if you aren’t ready or you don’t have the bandwidth to tackle the challenge, skip it for now. Many small business achieve success because of their small size.
Uncertainty
Do you lay awake at night, worried about the future of your business? You aren’t alone! The coronavirus can leave you wondering about your business, but many other things can sink your business too.
Nothing in life is certain, so you have to try your best to live in that uncertainty and enjoy the adventure! Following the tips on this list will help too. The more focused time and effort you put into making your business work for you and your employees, the more success and peace of mind you will enjoy!
