5 Signs Your Small Business Operations Need a Major Overhaul

I feel confident speaking for most small business owners when I say we don't typically have the capacity for making major changes in our businesses. But staying in that warm, comfortable place of "This is how it's always been done" may be hurting a lot more than it's helping.

When was the last time you took a step back and assessed your day-to-day operational processes for efficiency? If you're selling products, is your POS system set-up optimally? If you're service-based, what's your system for sending proposals and invoices? Have you patched together some semblance of a process while saying to yourself, "Let's just get this working today and later I'll go through it correctly," more times than once?

Probably 9 times out of 10, when a marketing consult comes in, their number one complaint for why they feel they can't do their marketing is because they're overwhelmed. They don't have the time because they're eyeball deep in day to day small business operations and can't possibly think about adding some slaphappy marketing on top of that. But they're also so busy that they absolutely cannot begin to think of adjusting their operations or trying something new.

But here's the harsh truth: Old ways won't open new doors. As scary as it can feel to overhaul your systems and processes, doing so can open up SO MANY new possibilities in your business. If any of this resonates with you, here are 5 signs it might be time to address the operations elephant in the room.

1: Redundant or Manual Processes

If you find yourself copying and pasting a lot, or entering the same data in multiple places multiple times, there's a 99% chance you're wasting your time. Automation and AI have come a long way. Many programs now have integrations with other programs to help streamline processes, and for those that don't, programs like Zapier can help you optimize your operations so that you have more time to focus on other aspects of your business.

2: Costs are increasing, but return isn't

We all know that things are getting more and more expensive these days. But if you notice that your expenses are continuing to rise faster than your return on those expenses, it might be time to look at what those expenses are and how they're actually contributing. You may be paying for tools or labor that isn't needed.

3: Morale is dropping

Even if you're a one-woman (or man) show, company morale has a major impact. If you or your team members are feeling bogged down by inefficiencies and are feeling burnt out, it can affect all aspects of the business. If the feeling is, "there has to be a better way," then it might be time to find one.

4: Customer complaints are up

Customers can feel when things aren't running smoothly. Whether it's bottlenecks, delays, errors, or slow response times, some unhappy customers will voice their complaints directly to you while others will just quietly leave or (worse) tell other people. Nobody wants to face criticism, but the backlash of ignoring it can be much worse.

5: You can't scale without it feeling like chaos

If the mere thought of taking on new customers or work gives you hives and makes your blood pressure spike... there's a big problem here. Being content with your current workload is one thing. But if you do want to grow and increase revenue but it feels too daunting, it might be time to pull back the curtain.

Conclusion

As easy as it can feel to just keep saying "this is how it's always been done," doing so can be having a big negative impact on your business. Especially if you are looking to grow your brand and increase revenue. Taking the time upfront to automate, streamline and optimize your operations is an amazing way to not only get the most of your marketing efforts, but also to increase productivity and morale. So don't be scared, rip the band-aid off!

Anchor Watch Marketing offers holistic marketing, addressing all aspects of your business so that you can feel more in control and have more time to focus on the aspects of your business that matter most to you. Book a consult to learn more.