The recent covid crisis has cost small businesses trillionsas the pandemic swept the nation and placed entire industries on pause. With business resuming and, in some cases, returning to pre covid figures, it couldn’t be a better time for managing directors to wheel out the chalkboard and assess company efficiency. Streamlining from the inside is the ability to assess your business functionality across key areas with the sole goal of creating a smoother and cost-effective experience for staff and consumers alike.
Productivity
It is estimated that businesses lose $1.8 trillion annually due to counterproductive measures being in place – a large statistic for a large problem. This can range from staff surfing the internet, gaps in rosters, in which a member of staff lacks responsibilities, or just general discontent for the company, creating difficult behaviors that may spread to others.
Luckily there are plenty of tools in place to tackle the above and limiting your online capabilities can be a start. It can be extremely difficult to avoid the temptations placed in front of us, so taking them away is sometimes necessary. This is extremely effective when it comes to web browsing, considering the average employee is suspected to waste 12% of every working day using social media. A study found here reported a 15% increase in employee productivity when time tracking software was installed with company equipment.
Assessing your roster system, overlapping shifts, unnecessary overtime, and crossovers in expertise can be detrimental to the profitability of a business. Why do companies have weekly targets when their time management is a leaking bag of cash? Reinstating your system with newer software development team structures or delegating somebody to perform the role can nip this problem in the bud. Time management can be a key money saver going forward.
Simple Cleaning and Organizing
No matter what industry you are operating in, a clean environment is a structured environment. The ability to locate tools, reports, and even people in the easiest fashion can eliminate many bugbears for the entire team on a day-to-day basis. Simple cheap ashtrays and well-located litter bins can keep the organized feeling alive within the company and increase productivity. A study by Staples revealed that 77% of people believe they produce higher quality work when operating in a clean environment.
Delivery Timing
Goods in and goods out, and no matter what business you operate, resources and materials need to be transported to and from various sites you operate from. Companies lose billions every year due to logistics errors related to the delivery of stock. Tackling this beast may require the efforts of a lean consultant as delivery logistics is a broad sector with many moving parts associated with multiple businesses and contractors. Planning your routes can be a more cost-effective way to take on a leaking logistics infrastructure, and modern software can allow you to optimise trading routes used by your vehicles, so they always take the most fuel-efficient time conscious routes available to them. Keeping a fine detail tracking system for your fleet is another troubleshooting method you can use. This allows you to identify key areas in which the business is losing time. Time is money after all.
Material costs
The cost of materials has increased by a whopping 33% in the post covid economy, making it a key focus for businesses who rely on mass quantities of building materials to operate daily.
Tactics installed to face this issue start with companies assessing their waste production. By measuring how much you waste, you may be able to work materials back onto your shelves by recycling or identifying materials you can limit keeping stock of based on demand. Recycling has saved millions of dollars for big hitters – it is estimated apple saves $1 million plus every year through their recycling programs.
Overheads
Overheads are the obvious area to investigate. You could invest in an accountant but those who wish to face this themselves can begin by investigating business software subscriptions. Are they all necessary? The covid 19 pandemic also taught the world that you do not need a large office space; some roles can be performed from home. Not only does remote working allow you to downsize on office real estate, but it can also benefit your employees, with some studies showing employees are $4000 better off working from home.
The most difficult measure is cutting down your workforce. Whilst a bitter pill to swallow, the changing dynamics of business render some roles redundant in the workplace. This needs to be recognized for some of the lower-tier companies if they are to adapt to a difficult economy in the early 2020s.
These are just a few key areas you can investigate to streamline targeted areas of your business. There are plenty more options on the table to help CEOs adapt to the post covid economy.