One of the keys ways that a business can cut down on their expenditure is simply by becoming more efficient. A lot of money is wasted maintaining outdated systems and ways of operating.
At the same time, depending on the size of your business and the market you operate in, you may not feel as if there are many ways that you improve efficiency.
Well, luckily, that’s almost certainly not the case, and I have never seen a business that could not stand to improve its efficiency in at least one area – and what’s more, it can be easier than you think!
Bite-size Meetings
Meetings are a necessary evil for most businesses. It’s very difficult to avoid them because frankly, they serve a purpose. However, they can also drag on and can start to cut into working time, lessening their impact and affecting efficiency.
So instead of saving everything up for one long meeting (that becomes a time sink!) why not schedule a short 10-minute meeting very day or so? Gather everyone in one area; give out the pertinent information so everyone is up to speed then let them get back to work.
Strengthen the Logistics Chain
Every company relies on a logistics chain. The extent to which it relies on it will be dictated by the nature of their business of course. A company heavily involved in manufacturing for example will be heavily reliant on their logistics partner to deliver materials and take away completed products.
Even a solely office based enterprise will almost certainly be contracted to a logistics supplier to deliver mail, samples, contracts, etc. Logistics is a packed market place and this competition means there are good quality cheap logistics solutions out there if you look hard enough (for example, look here: ILS Limited). Considering this is such an important part of the operation of your business, finding the right logistics supplier to work with you can lead to huge efficiencies.
Employee Assistance
Take stock of every piece of equipment that your employees need – and then see if they are being held back by it. Outdated phone systems that disconnect callers are a waste of time. Dusty old PCs that are still running Windows 94 and crash every hour are wasting their time. The printers that jam, the scanner that breaks this all falls under this category. Any infrastructure that is costing employee-working time is also a cutting into your company efficiency.
Now, this may seem like obvious advice but sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees, so just make that bit of time to consider the current equipment, and what improvements could be made.
And that’s it; it is literally that straight forward. Of course, these are just starter suggestions, and every company will have lots of ways to increase efficiency unique to that specific business. But this list hopefully has simply shown you that it is easier than you may have assumed to strive for increased efficiency in your business.
