Issues Small Businesses Owners Face That Can Be Easily Fixed

According to Inc.com “Thirty-three percent of small-business owners reported working more than 50 hours per week, while an additional 25% said they work more than 60 hours a week, according to a poll of readers of the New York Enterprise Report. The poll, conducted throughout January and February, found that 70% of respondents also worked at least one weekend on a regular basis.”

I say that if you are ok with working that many hours – go for it, it is after all YOUR business, putting in the time and effort might not feel like work to you and if so  great! It sounds like you found your passion and that is one of the best feelings one person can have.

However, If you started a company to enjoy more freedom and you are exhausted trying to juggle all the aspects of owning your company, now may be the time to look into trying to manage your company in a way that is conducive to your needs, which may mean hiring additional help. 

Knowing how much time small business owners are putting in week after week, This is a good time to make sure your business is in great shape and able to continue moving forward in both growth and profits. If you haven’t seen my previous blog, New Year New Business Goals for 2022, it talks about how and why you need to review your previous business plan so you can start on the right foot in the new year.

If you haven’t done your yearly business plan – do it now. If you have no idea what your goals should be and need suggestions of business goals for your the upcoming 2022 year, take a look at Examples of Short -Term and Long Term Business Goals for 2022.

Keep reading to learn of the challenges a small business can face in running their own company, and how they can be fixed with simple organization skills.

Hiring New Employees. Hiring the right employee(s) for your company is not an easy task for small business owners. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to find a great employee. It can cost an employer about 1.25 to 1.4 times the salary just to hire someone! So you want to make sure that you can first afford to hire a new team member.

Also, the younger generation seemed to have become more demanding in their needs from their employer, for example they expect benefits that you may not be able to offer at this time, such as good healthcare, dental, retirement, etc.

Typically, hiring someone can take a lot of time out of your day, as you need to write the job description, go through the applications, and take the time to interview prospects. Plus, if this is your first employee, you have to ensure you have all the legal steps within the federal and state guidelines met!

One way to fix this is to narrow down what makes a great employee to you. Block your calendar and take the time to write down specifically what type of employee you are looking for.

What tasks do they need to fill for you? What talent would benefit the business best? What is your budget? What is your weakest area of running the business? Once you have an idea of what type of person would benefit your business, write up the job description needed with all of the requirements you listed.

If this all still sounds overwhelming, I would suggest looking into obtaining an online business manager who you can hire for a contracted period of time to handle this project. If this is something you’re interested in, feel free to fill out my contact form and we can discuss my hiring and training package. 

Administration Tasks can overload even the most organized business owner. On any typical day, you have to answer phone calls and emails, complete the accounting, manage any current employee(s) you have, take inventory and order supplies, market your business, all while taking care of your clients! 

A great way to start managing these tasks is to first make a list of everything you do daily, weekly, and monthly that fall into the admin category (by now you might have noticed that I like lists!) Once you have an idea of what items need to be completed and when, block time out on your calendar to work on these tasks throughout the week. Make some of the larger tasks into smaller, easier to manage tasks too! With just these two tips, you will notice an immediate improvement in the handling of these jobs. 

Lack of systems or policies can hurt even the best of businesses. Don’t think that having policies or systems in place are only for the large corporations. Have you ever worked at a job that no one seemed to be on the same page? Each person taught the next person differently from the last? Had an employee that was consistently late or disregarded the general “rules” that everyone else played by? These can be confusing for everyone there, can cause good employees to quit, and can hurt your bottom line. 

It is noted that having systems in place benefits you, your employees, and your client. Having the policies written down is a great way to protect yourself while giving your employees a safe and fair working environment. Take the time to write down (I know, so much writing!) some important system management and policies. If you don’t have time to write down the policies, you can outsource this to either a current employee or an online business manager (ahem, Hi!).

If you haven’t noticed, a lot of issues small businesses face can be fixed by managing your time more efficiently and taking care of issues upfront. To make your next year great, take the time now to write a few lists. I would suggest starting with a list of administration tasks, once this list is completed, you can determine what items you could pass on to another person on your team, if any.

After that list is completed, block out the time on your calendar needed for you to finish the tasks you kept. Now do the same for any systems or office policies that may need to be updated or completed. Can any of your team members complete these for you?

If after completing these 2 lists, you may have determined that now is the time for you to hire another person to help with these issues. Or maybe you realized that you don’t even have time to make these lists or write down these policies needed for your company in the first place!

If this is the case, now is the time to look into outsourcing your business needs to an Online Business Manager. Personally, one of my favorite things to do is to go into a small business and create better business practices so your business can continue to grow and you can focus on what is most important to you, taking care of your clients, oh and making money ;).

Questions? LET’S TALK!