productivity strategies for new small businesses

When you decide to launch a small business, you have to take it seriously from day one. This is even more important for people who spent some time working for a company. Running a small business means that there’s no guaranteed income every single month. You have to work hard to make ends meet, especially at the beginning of your business quest.

5 Productivity Tips for a Startup Small Business

It’s crucial to implement some strategies in work organization that will ensure high productivity from the very beginning of your entrepreneurial story and avoid costly business mistakes

Flexible work hours

No matter if you’re working on your own or you have employees, flexible work hours bring freedom to work. In turn, you and your employees will avoid the pressure caused by a fixed work schedule.

Work already generates enough stress so it would be wise not to put an additional burden on your back.

In line with that, allow your employees to adjust their work hours to their personal preferences. That way, they’ll have a chance to successfully juggle their private and professional obligations.

After all, a flexible worker is a happy, productive worker, according to Forbes.

Still, you need to keep them disciplined and aware that their share of work needs to be done on time. That’s why your workers need to have a fixed number of work hours per week. When they’re working from home, they should also use a time tracker.

This combo of work freedom and discipline should result in higher work efficiency and workers’ satisfaction.

Wisely set deadlines

If you’ve just launched a small business and you want to pursue a flexible work policy, it could backfire in terms of missed deadlines.

Because of that, every small business owner needs to look a few steps ahead. By this, we mean that the deadlines you give to your clients and the ones you impose on your employees should be different.

Even if one or more employees don’t meet the deadline, you’ll have enough time to let them finish their work. That way, you’ll prevent your entire business from getting a bad reputation for missing deadlines.

What’s more, you’ll save your workers from themselves, in case they repeatedly miss the deadlines.

Also, it’s necessary to talk to them and find out why they’re constantly late. Tell them that you’re satisfied with their completed work but that they can’t keep being late with their tasks. That way, you’ll boost their self-confidence while giving them a gentle warning about their position in your company.

As a result, they should get more productive and stick to the agreed milestones.

Make use of online tools

Your business productivity will be much higher if you make use of some practical online tools.

First and foremost, you need a user-friendly project management tool. You don’t need anything spectacular, but a simple yet effective tool, such as Zoho Sprints or VivifyScrum, will help make things work for you.

Apart from that, it’s advisable to start using cloud storage services. For instance, Google Drive offers up to 15 GB of online space for free. As your business grows, you can go for a paid Google package or opt for Dropbox, Box or any other app.

Moreover, it’s important to ensure high visibility of your business online. One of the best ways to boost your online rankings is to come up with a well-crafted business website. If it’s simple, useful, and intuitive, it will quickly generate new leads and save part of your marketing budget. And when it’s accompanied by a relevant blog, you have a great tandem for fast lead generation and high work efficiency.

Introduce bonuses and extras

The topic of bonuses and extras for the most productive workers is a delicate matter.

If you keep rewarding the same workers all the time, other employees might become dissatisfied. On the other hand, it’s pointless to reward the employees who didn’t make an effort.

Because of that, it’s important to establish a certain reward system and explain it to every worker you hire. That way, everybody will know the rules of the game before it even starts. Break down your reward system for each employee personally. In addition, put it in writing and send it via email so every employee is doubly aware.

It’s vital for both employers and employees to know what they can expect from one another. As a result, every single bonus and extra you give to your employees will be justified by the regulations contained in your recognition system. This strategy is highly likely to reduce the potential employee turnover, which is something many companies are dealing with nowadays. 

Of course, you have to be impartial when you’re giving these bonuses and promotions. Another two cents: always rely solely on measurable features, rather than on your subjective conclusions.

Support both team and individual work

We can often hear HR-experts say that employers should encourage teamwork. While this is true, it’s also important to show understanding for individual workers, as well. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world are individuals who can work more easily on their own.

You’ll be more productive as a business if you don’t curb individualism but funnel it to bring benefits to the entire venture.

For example, if some of your workers are experts in their field but extreme individuals, let them finish their share of work on their own. After that, their results can be validated by one of the teams.

What’s important in case of such strong individualistic personalities is to always let them know that they’re here for the business, not the other way around. If they can understand that, you’ll have a productive, long-term collaboration.

Final thoughts on work hacks for your new business

As you can see from this article, productivity doesn’t have to be expensive. It only takes some free tech tools and a lot of managerial improvisation to organize a successful small business.

While teamwork is important, wise business owners won’t neglect the power of individual contributions to the growth of their enterprise. Finally, if you do your best to provide your employees with proper tools and constant support, they’ll like both you and your business. All these can result in high commitment to your business startup and increased productivity in the workplace.

Liam-Collins

Our guest author Liam Collins is a tech pundit and web enthusiast working at TuiSpace.com.

He spends most of his time reading and writing about current affairs in the world of information technology.

When he isn’t working, he likes going for long bike rides and walks in nature.

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