Small business management tips for startup growth
Running a small business is no easy task. Small business management has become a complex field of its own, with a focus on multiple areas financial management, human resource management, sales, and marketing management. All of these are just the basics, becoming increasingly complex depending on the industry you work in, the areas of small business depend heavily on what the intent of the business is.
In order to fully understand the areas of business management and how they pertain to managing a small business you would need to fully understand everything that makes a business run. What constitutes the vein of your business.
What is small business management?
Like any field of business, small business management also has best business practices associated with it. The management of a small business involves a very complex balance of financial management, employee delegation and supervision, marketing decisions, sales practices, and more. Moreover, a small business usually only has one person or a very small team of people handling a lot of these major tasks.
In order to improve the business, small business managers need to recognize all the areas that come under their jurisdiction. The advantage of having a small business is that it is not expected to follow the hierarchy and practices of traditional, large corporations. Small business tips can easily be customized to what works for your business needs, and be utilized in creative ways to address the issues your business or employees face.
4 tips to Improve your small business with effective management
Business development
The business development aspect of your business is one of the most important groundwork a business manager lays down, and where the best business practices start. This starts from the very beginning, The first part is deciding what kind of business entity you want to set up. This could mean a partnership, sole proprietorship, an LLC, or a corporation.
Collect all the documents you need to register the business and to obtain all relevant licenses. This is also the stage when you will open a bank account for your business. Going to a bank that specializes in small business management and MSME banking can give you some of the most affordable rates on the market.
The next step is to organize your company structure. Simplify things like your business mission and vision, how processes and approval flows will work, and how many employees each department needs. Clarify the hiring process and requirements and there are tons of other small business tips that you can utilized here.
Time management
Time management is a major struggle many business managers face. Not only do they work on the schedules of other employees, but they also need to design their schedules to meet their deliverables. Coming up with small business ideas also means seeing them through. The first step is to make sure that you give yourself enough time for any emergencies.
An emergency need not be a “code red” situation. An emergency could be anything where an intended deadline is not met, an employee is unavailable, or something major happens with a vendor all of which define areas of small business. Keeping 15-20% of your day free to handle these ad-hoc tasks prevents you from getting overwhelmed when they crop up.
Another great way to avoid getting overwhelmed is to stop multitasking. Multitasking is the go-to method for many people, especially those who handle more than one responsibility. This is a work culture you also need to encourage with your employees. If you have workers who adore multitasking, it might be difficult to change their ways. Ultimately, letting people work in their way is the best way to improve the business.
People management
People are any company’s largest and most valuable asset. If you are doing small business management correctly, most of your focus will be on assisting your employees and making sure they are working in a conducive and healthy environment. One of the first steps to streamlined people management is to invest in training.
Ensuring that your employees are trained, not just in their field but also in the specifics of your business, makes them capable of producing the best outcomes for your company that improve the business. Training goes hand in hand with finding people who have the right attitude for your company.
The right attitude is important to recognize. It is not just the attitude towards the work. The right attitude fits in with the rest of the team, contributes to the work culture you have decided for the company, and goes hand-in-hand with the company mission and vision. While diversity is best for all-rounded growth, the diverse set of employees needs to agree on the common goals for the business and department.
Money Management
Money management is one of those aspects of a business that needs to be well oriented. For instance, the company bank accounts need to be separate from any personal bank accounts. This includes, credit cards, debit cards, loans, credit scores, and debt. Having all business transactions kept separate from a personal account makes compliance a lot easier. Small business ideas always have ups and downs.
When there is only a small group of employees or sometimes even one employee is managing a business, automation can untangle a lot of the complexities of financial management. Cash management software like Volopay can handle types of payment methods, employee reimbursements, and company card transactions. There is the option for departmental budgets to be tightly controlled, and for expense reports to be automatically generated. Areas of small business are fully accounted for.
Accounting software like Xero or MYOB can help make the accounting aspect of finance smoother. It takes care of collating all your receipts and checking them against transactions to make sure they are viable. Having all your finances and accounting automated helps you, as a financial manager, focus on the more important aspects of financial management.
How Volopay can help manage your small business spending
For one person - or a very small team - to manage all the financial aspects of a business is not easy. It becomes harder with every new account that is added, with every expansion of any department, as well as any major changes in the business model or industry. Traditionally, small businesses rely on tools like spreadsheets to manage all this data. Spreadsheets feel easier, given their wide usage and no costs.
But a spreadsheet can only do so much. That’s where an expense management system like Volopay comes into the picture. Designed to make your financial operations easier, it can become the most important tool in a business manager’s arsenal. All best business practices include automating your financial processes.
Flexible credit line
As your number of employees increases, so does the prospect of them making business-related purchases. Consequently, so does the budget requirement. Volopay offers a credit line, preloaded into virtual and physical cards for your employees to use. The business manager can then control what company funds are at the disposal of employees, and how they are utilized.
Financial control centre
Approval flows and pre-defined policies can help ensure that all transactions are authorized by the company. These financial areas of business management can be easily automated. Volopay acts as a business financial center, which can make any small business manager’s life exponentially easier. We are always improving and ideating innovative ideas to improve business.
Automated bill pay
A central console for you to manage all your account payables, vendors, and departmental budgets, it acts like a birds-eye view for all your company expenses and balance. Additionally, all these expenses can be exported or synced with the accounting software of your choice, making legal and compliance also smoother.
Real time visibility
Volopay gives you real-time visibility over all your spending on the platform with notifications for any spending made by you or your team on your card and bill payments. Stop paying for unwanted subscriptions, and see all your vendors at one place with full control over subscriptions
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