Five Things You Can Do This Week to Improve Your Business

People often tend to get into a simple flow of things and begin settling for less than they can accomplish. This tendency might be practiced so often simply because these practices are easy or “good enough”; however, in business, “good enough” is a phrase that should be feared. “Good enough” means you are settling for less than you can achieve and quite frankly, less than you deserve. Here is a list of 5 easy steps you can take this week to improve your business.

Get Educated

After a while in the same business, many people tend to think of themselves as experts in their field; however, whether you’ve been in a business for 20 days or 20 years, there is always something new you can learn…and use!  In a world with such advancing technology, we are constantly given a plethora of resources to learn from, yet for some reason, we find ourselves shuffling through countless memes or binge watching Netflix for hours on end.

Whether it’s picking up a book, listening to a podcast, or attending a local event, there is always opportunity to get educated. The world really is your oyster…or maybe in this day and age, your IPhone is (Androids too, relax), but regardless of how you’re accessing this information, now is the time to take advantage of it!  

Improve your Communication

Communication is one of the most overlooked, but most important aspects of running a successful business and, unfortunately, a skill that we’ve never really been taught to master in school. Communicating effectively with partners, employees and customers may in fact be the end all be all for your company. People are the foundation of business, and if you can’t communicate with people effectively, then you can’t do business. End of story.

A lot of the time, problems are not caused from disagreement, but rather, they are caused from misunderstanding caused from miscommunication.

So how should you communicate in the workforce?

For starters, establishing clear communication policies is one way to combat conflict caused by miscommunication. Communication should be focused on learning and understanding things from someone else’s perspective so that you are able to meet in the middle and work towards a similar goal.

Market Better

Without marketing, business would not exist. While marketing does have importance in driving sales, centering your marketing solely on generating revenue will not be as effective as you might think. Marketing is what is going to help you convey your company’s mission to consumers. In the words of Simon Sinek, “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”.  Marketing in a way that displays the drive behind your company and why you do what you do will ultimately lead to attracting and retaining consistent and loyal customers.

Be Consistent

Have you ever heard of the restaurant McDonald’s? My best guess is going to be that you have and one of the main reasons that this chain is so popular is due to one simple business tactic: consistency. The main reason McDonald’s blew up in the 60’s is because no matter which McDonalds restaurant someone entered, the burger that they ordered would taste the exact same. Simple as that. Customers knew what they wanted, were willing to pay for it, and received the consistent quality that they expected.

Whether it is in regard to training, produced goods, services, company goals or marketing, people like consistency! Consistency builds trust which then leads to loyal employees, loyal customers and an overall smoother running business.

Take Action…Now

It is human nature to wait for what feels like the right time to do something, when we feel ready or comfortable. But that is the thing about improvement-- sometimes we don’t feel ready to do something and sometimes it isn’t comfortable us, but it is an action that we know deep down will help us improve. And we can’t waste our time waiting forever.

So when can you get educated? Now.

When can you improve your communication? Now.

When can you market better? Now.

When can you be consistent? Now.

When can you take action? NOW.

Simply put, stop waiting for tomorrow when you can start today.

Resources

https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/improvement

https://h2omediainc.com/20-free-ways-boost-business-right-now/

https://www.nightclub.com/operations/5-almost-free-things-you-can-do-week-to-improve-your-business