Spring Clean Your Small Business

The weekend saw the clocks go forward and we are officially in Spring! The days are slowly getting milder and daffodils are everywhere you look. It’s time to de-clutter and spring clean your small business. As the days get longer, there is a renewed impetus to setting goals and you feel more energised as a business. Right now is the ideal time to put that impetus to good use, and channel that energy into your business.  Targets suddenly seem more realistic, and making small changes now can not only inject life into your small business but increase productivity and sales.

The most important question for any small business is where do you start?

Outline Your Goals

Goals are the core foundation to any successful small business and having fresh impetus can reflect favourably on your business. A good example is Active Kids Nursery Hove owner Renata. She’s recently had to ask herself some difficult questions about the business. Is it time to start taking better care of your employees? Perhaps it’s time to talk to your clients and customers more? How well do you know them? What changes are they seeing which can help build and maintain the relationship you have in place? It’s important to sit down and plan ahead financially. Is it time to streamline some of your outgoings to make better use of the businesses finances?  Talk to your existing staff and see what changes they’d like implemented and what changes they feel would enhance the business. Maybe you started January with good intentions for your business goals but these haven’t materialised for one reason or another. Now is the opportunity to re-ignite these goals and analyse the progress you have made to date.

Manage Your Outgoings and Cash Flow

Money keeps your business moving in the right direction. Having a steady cash flow will enable you to cover your business outgoings. Check your outgoings and do a detailed analysis with the individuals who manage your accounts. Build up a clear picture of your current financial affairs, and what is likely to change in the year ahead. This may take more time than you envisage, but getting it done correctly will put your business in a great position for the remainder of 2018.

If you are a small business owner, managing your cash flow and making sure you have sufficient financial resources to meet your needs, such as paying wages, paying contractors and any other financial obligations is absolutely critical.  If you go a little deeper and have a look at other technological items such as company mobile phone contracts or card machines, these could save you money. In a society where technology is so prominent shopping around for credit card machines, ePOS systems etc, is a must.

Giving customers flexibility to pay for goods and services

With the rise in popularity of such facilities such as contactless payments and online shopping, customers are looking to pay for goods quickly and securely. If your website or trading environment doesn’t cater for this you may be losing out. If you are a mobile business, it’s imperative you have a payment solution that captures custom for those that are looking for impulse purchases. Not only will a card machine increase the credibility of your business, but it also delivers better money management and saves on trips to the bank for paying in lump sums of cash. If you are considering launching an online store it’s important to remember that the majority of transactions on the internet are paid for with a debit and credit card. The use of online payments can be beneficial as invoices can be created automatically and it allows for faster transactions. Online orders also offer encrypted services which protects the client’s private information giving them peace of mind. What tips would you share?