Would you list commonsense as one of your best attributes?
When running a business, you can’t afford to be deficient in commonsense.
Sure, you may not have a Harvard or Stanford education, but you’d better be adept at knowing the ins and outs of properly running a company. If you do not, you could unfortunately end up learning the hard way.
So, how much commonsense would you say you sport when it comes to the daily needs of running your company?
Finances Always Top the List
In order to bring commonsense into the fold of your business if you have not been doing so up to now, remember to focus on:
- Finances – More importantly than anything else, are you good at keeping your financials in the black? Unfortunately, too many business owners are struggling financially these days, reasons that really are all over the board as to why this is. For some, the simple fact that the economy has been more than a bit of a rollercoaster in recent years has made it difficult to continually turn a profit. Others, meantime, have made some bad business decisions along the way, decisions that ended up costing them fair amounts of money. Still others have been lax when it comes to making customer service a top priority. In looking at your finances, can you pinpoint areas that are contributing to any problems you might be having? One notable issue could be that you are letting some customers get the better of you, notably when it relates to chargebacks. Chargebacks occur when customers simply decide to renege on paying for a product and/or service they bought from you. In doing so, you are essentially stuck with the bill. So that you do your best to stop chargebacks before they ruin your business, have a plan in place to deal with this problem. One of the best plans is when you halt the problem before it occurs. You can typically proceed two ways, working with a managed service (where a company you partner with having experience in this area does the work) or a self-service portal (where you oversee handling the matter prior to it becoming a chargeback). Either way, you stop this painful financial process from taking business and dollars away from your company;
- Employees – Can you say with just about 100 percent confidence that you’ve hired the best employees over the years? While you’d like to think so, there’s a good chance you’d make some different hires if you could go back and change things over time. Although the hiring process can be a crapshoot, do your best to get it right the first time around with each and every hire. By doing so, you greatly reduce the stress bad hires can have on a business. When you hire workers who ultimately give you 100 percent, treat your customers with care and respect, and do nothing to harm your business reputation, you have the keys to unlocking yet another good hiring decision.
Is It Time to Expand?
- Expansion – If things properly fall into place, your company will be growing year after year. As such, knowing when the right time is to expand is crucial. If you grow too slowly, you run the risk of competitors passing you by. Grow too quickly, the issue of putting the cart before the horse arises. Take a fair amount of time and planning to decide when best to grow your business. Remember, commonsense says that your financial well-being will always top the list of business priorities.
As a business owner, what commonsense advice would you have for others running companies?
