The tasks involved in keeping your business flying high are many, as a result, it is incredibly difficult at times. One more than one occasion, the temptation to give in can arise. But when this temptation does crop up, you may want to look in the other direction, and think about ways to rejuvenate your company, rather than fighting against the tide. If you have various issues with your business, the chances are that it probably just needs a facelift. In this case, there are some things to help you with motivating yourself and your business to give it the turnaround it deserves. And the first thing you need to do is to spot the signs…
Does Your Business Have A Clear Identity?
In other word,s does anybody know exactly what your business does? If you don’t have a clear identity, and therefore, a purpose, not only will it be confusing for customers, who have no clue what it is you do specifically, it will be incredibly difficult for your clients and even yourself to determine the best avenue to go down. A lot of people hedge their bets in this respect by choosing a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to providing products to cater for every demographic, this is an incredibly unfocused practice. So you need to think about channeling your identity.
Are There Financial Issues?
It’s always best to look at these sorts of issues over a period of time, it doesn’t happen overnight! The first key indicators to look at would be your gross margin and your profit margin; these will be symptomatic of financial decline.
Have There Been Changes In Your Products?
You may have found that over the years you have been changing your products gradually to bring more punters in, but does this mean that you know how to market them properly? Are these products even relevant anymore? The market may have moved on since then, and you are struggling to catch up. To solve this issue, it’s time to undertake some detailed research of the market.
Are You Using Old Technology?
Technology is the one changing factor in our times, so it is essential that you know how to evolve with the times, by keeping your equipment up to date. In addition to this, you need to start thinking about outsourcing specific IT services, so the duty of being ahead of the technological curve isn’t down to you. You may want to look at a website like VirginiaITSupport.com/it-services to get an idea of the modern technology processes, and look at your own in-house systems and see if yours are anywhere near advanced. It is essential to keep the IT components outsourced for this very reason.
Are Your Back Office Functions Sloppy?
Is your admin limping along? Do you find that your accounting is slow to get back to you with the figures? These things are critical in small businesses, and if you are suffering from poor administrative processes, you may be better off getting a cloud based system, where information can be updated and upgraded on a regular basis. There is plenty of administrative accounting systems online to keep you on top of these processes, such as FreshBooks.com, and it will make everything easier, not just the admin.
Is Your Business Name Concise?
This is something that might not have even crossed your mind, but if your name doesn’t suit its purpose anymore, for example if you had the name “accounts” in your business moniker, but you have now diversified into other avenues, it’s is potentially misleading, but it also might be losing you important customers. So, have a look at your name, and have a look to see if rebranding is a good idea. Changing your name is one thing, but the image has to go with it also.
How Many Competitors Do You Have?
It can happen, a competitor has left you feeling a bit sheepish about your business, or maybe just a bit uneasy. The fact is, competition is rife in business, and if there is one competitor that does exactly what you do, but cheaper, it’s going to make life a lot more difficult for you. So the solution in this respect is to do a SWOT analysis, analyzing your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Once you have undertaken a thorough assessment, you can progress from there more sure-footed.
Is Your Website Relevant?
If you are not going with the times, and making sure that you are contactable via social media, or that contact box that you should have on your website, it can be very difficult for you to have anybody come back to you. If your website isn’t easy to use, if it’s not mobile-friendly, or even if it is in Flash, this could mean you are ostracizing a key portion of your customers. First thing you need to do if you are revamping your website is to make sure that it is readable on mobile phones now.
How Is Your Office Space?
If your office space isn’t the most productive environment, or you may not have even considered this before, it’s definitely worth undertaking an assessment to see if your working space is clumsy, cramped, or just a sorry excuse for a work environment, it’s time to start renovating it. You want to create a vibrant space, an inspiring one, and maybe want to follow a pertinent example, such as Google’s idea, which is an environment that is inspiring to be in, but it also helps you to balance your life out properly. A lot of startups are catching on to the idea of a more holistic framework. So, if you can change the working environment, not just physically, but change the culture as well, this will be the facelift your business needs. If you are stuck in the past it can be a matter of time before your business goes under, so go for the culture.
If your business is heading in a sorry direction, and you know that changes are needed, it’s time to give your business an overhaul, and give it the facelift that it needs. Do not throw in the towel just yet, make sure you do what you can to revive it, and sometimes the facelift is the one thing to make you, and your business, smile again.
