Every business of any size wants to be as efficient as possible. This is especially true for small businesses that may not have as many resources as larger enterprises. To succeed and rise above the competition, businesses must cut back on wasted time and implement systems that help them achieve maximum productivity.
Of course, there are tools and techniques to help increase small business efficiency. One of these tools is technology and it can revolutionise the way a business operates. However, switching from pen & paper to a digital system can seem intimidating and expensive. And if using a physical diary to stay organised has worked just fine, why change things up?
While changing how things operate when they’re working well enough may seem frivolous, you’ll soon find that implementing technology will take your business from doing “well enough” to operating exceptionally. By integrating technology into your everyday operations, you can gain back valuable time & energy whilst increasing efficiency & revenue. Here, we have the pillars of increasing small business efficiency:
Train Your Staff
You’ve just opened a multi-level salon & spa in the heart of a bustling city. You have a staff filled with talented & passionate individuals. With the right people on board, everything should go well, right? However, it’s important to train your staff on how you’d like your business to operate to ensure everything is running smoothly.
Create a Positive Work Environment
To motivate your employees to stay focused and on track toward your company’s goals, make work a positive place to be! According to a 2015 UK study on employee happiness, happy employees who express high rates of job satisfaction are more productive and lead to more financial benefits for the companies they work at. Your employees should feel valued & engaged in their job and maintain a sense of autonomy over their work.
Of course, no one wants to be micromanaged. But as an owner, you want to know what’s going on in your business. Having a communal calendar, that automatically updates with new appointments can allow you to quickly see who’s working & when, and each day’s appointments.
Venus Williams, tennis star & businesswoman, spoke at Vagaro’s iconic.22 conference this past September. Among other things, she discussed her philosophy on leading employees. She said, “Work on the culture of your organisation. When you’re able to lead with culture, it takes out the guesswork.” That is to say, when staff members know you’re investing in them & their growth, they’ll be more invested in your vision. Set your small business up for success by establishing a strong & uplifting culture.
Delegate Tasks
As a small business owner, you may often feel like you have to do everything. Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or have even a few staff members, don’t be afraid to delegate tasks using automated systems to improve efficiency. Vagaro has tools that can help you (or your employees!) create digital marketing campaigns & materials or analyse various business reports. Using these tools and tapping into everyone’s strengths can help take some of the work off your shoulders.
If you’re concerned whether your staff will be able to properly execute certain tasks, take the time to train them properly. Then, trust them to do the work. If you’ve properly trained them and worked to empower employees to be autonomous, it is likely they will rise to the occasion. Delegating tasks allows you to get back valuable time, quite like…
Technology: Automate & Streamline
Mundane yet necessary tasks can take up an inordinate amount of time. Why not streamline these tasks by integrating technological solutions into your day-to-day operations? Simple-to-use software like Vagaro can automate repetitive, time-consuming tasks so you can focus on doing what you love. Vagaro has helpful tools like:
- Rent & Fees Gone are the days of chasing down booth renters and making multiple trips to the bank. With the ability to automatically collect rent through scheduled recurring payments, your renters (and you!) needn’t worry about rent again. Apply commission toward an employee’s rent and easily store rental contracts digitally, all in one app.
- Payroll Make paying your staff as seamless as possible with our full-service payroll management system. Spend less time tending to payroll and more time making money.
- Inventory Never lose track of what you need again! Use purchase orders & low-quantity warnings to automatically reorder products and input them into your system quicker & easier than ever.
Make Data-Driven Decisions & Projections
As a small business owner, your aspirations may involve growth & expansion. To scale up your business, you’ll need data to point you in the right direction. Stay updated about everything happening in your business with the Reports feature from Vagaro. With customisable reports, you can see how your employees are performing, what your sales look like, customer retention rates & more. With these reports, you can make informed decisions when deciding what changes to implement in your business, knowing that you have the numbers and data to back you up.
Choose Digital Tools to Reclaim Valuable Time
When you opened your small business, you wanted to share your passion with the world. More than likely, you didn’t start a business to spend time playing phone tag to secure bookings. While pen & paper may be how you’ve always ran your business, there are real benefits to upgrading your process, like unlocking your business’s full potential. The best part? You get access, instantly, to 15 simple & effective tools to start bettering your business right at signup. And if you need more, our pricing structure allows you to choose exactly what you need without breaking the bank!
Try out the customisable Calendar to automate repeat bookings, add customers to a waitlist, manage bookings, service providers & more! Streamline your client’s booking experience with Online Booking that they can use 24/7. Imagine waking up to new bookings, as if your front desk had been working overnight! With various booking integrations, clients can book directly from your social media pages for immediate, direct booking—as easy as that. And with the ability to customise your appointment settings, you can take appointments when you want, how you want. Of course, the goal of your business is to get paid. With Payment Processing, you can accept contactless payments, sell products through your own Online Shop and set up autopay for Memberships, creating a recurring source of income.
With Vagaro, you can optimise the way your business runs without multitasking til your head spins. What can we say? We’re in the business of making things easier for you, so you can focus on what you love. We’ll do the rest. Get started with a 30-day free trial to add some va-va-Vagaro to your small business!
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