Creating standardized systems for vital business tasks will play a major role in the efficiency and longevity of your small business. “Systems are essential for any successful business. Creating set processes and guidelines can save time and create a consistent experience.” In this article we’ll cover the key tasks involved with creating systems for marketing, accounting and inventory.
Marketing
“Having a plan in place that outlines your marketing activities on a month-to-month basis assures that a steady stream of promotion enters the marketplace, keeping you in the minds of your established customers and roping in new ones.”
- Assess Your Current Business Situation and Outline Marketing Goals
- Determine What You are Able to Invest (Time and/or Money)
- Identify the Gaps in Your Marketing
- Identify the Biggest Gap in Your Marketing
- Identify the Most Attractive Near-Term Opportunities
- Put Together an Action Plan that Prioritizes Tasks
- Focus on Strategy Before Tactics
- Guide the Customer Journey
- Make Content the Voice of Strategy
- Create a Total Online Presence
- Build a Reliable Flow of Leads
Accounting
“Accounting plays a vital role in running a business because it helps you track income and expenditures, ensure statutory compliance, and provide investors, management, and government with quantitative financial information which can be used in making business decisions.”
- Set up a simple accounting system
- Set up your Chart of Accounts
- Open a business banking account
- Separate personal and business expenses
- Keep records of receipts and invoices
- Be mindful of tax obligations
- Set up a system to collect payments
- Create a payment collection process
- Select a payroll provider
- Forecast expenses
Inventory
“An effective management of inventory helps in reducing costs which further keeps accounts and finances in check.”
- Create well designed location names and clearly label all locations where items may be stored.
- Use well organized, consistent, and unique descriptions of your items, starting with nouns.
- Keep item identifiers (part numbers, sku’s, etc..) short, consistently formatted, unique, and avoid common pitfalls.
- Decide if you will need to use units of measure, and if so, make sure they are formatted consistently and used properly.
- Make sure you have a good starting count of all your items, their locations, and any other relevant inventory data
- Use an inventory tracking software like Clearly Inventory. Spreadsheets or written lists do not work well in the long term.
- Create solid inventory management policies and train your people to follow them.
Having the right tools to manage these aspects of your business will help you to improve efficiency and accuracy. Marketing automation tools, accounting software and inventory management platforms will all aid in developing efficient systems across your organization.
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